The Mentor
by BookDreamer98
Summary: Her life had begun to revolve around the man who brought her back to the hell that she calls the Academy, the man who is now her mentor. Rose and Dimitri story at the Academy.
1. Chapter 1

**Hi guys, so this is the first fanfiction story I have attempted, so please forgive me if it's not quite what you want to read, but please tell me if you think there's anything I can improve on! This is just the first chapter and I'm still finding my feet, so any suggestions would be welcome! I don't own anything, just the start of an idea that popped up into my head.**

Rose and Dimitri.

It was Friday morning, 5:30 AM to be precise. I was sitting on one of the gym mats in the centre of the room, waiting for my mentor, Dimitri. I was early for practise for the first time ever, for bond-related reasons I wasn't willing to share just yet.

When the doors to the gym opened I sat up straighter, waiting for my mentor's reaction at seeing me here early.

'Rose.' He said. 'Am I still sleeping or are you really here early?'

I felt myself smiling at him before I even started speaking. 'Better believe it Comrade, couldn't sleep so I thought I'd get here early, besides, the look on your face made it worth it.'

The corner of his mouth lifted in a slight smile, whereas mine dropped as I heard what he said next. 'You're right, and you get more time running.'

I scowled at him, but got up and headed to the door anyway, already knowing our routine and knowing full well that arguing would get me nowhere with him. However my mood did lift slightly when I noticed him following me to the door, at least I wouldn't be running alone.

Once we were getting to the end of the track and beginning to slow down, Dimitri finally spoke up. 'So, are you going to tell me why you are being so quiet this morning and why you were early today?'

Damn, I was hoping he wouldn't ask. 'I'm just tired, I didn't get much sleep.'

He gave me a pointed look, telling me without words that he knew I was lying.

'Fine, Lissa and Christian were together last night.' When he gave me a confused look, so I elaborated.

'As in they were _together_ , intimately. Which is not what I wanted to be waking up to in the middle of the night. Believe me I didn't want to be watching, it's hard to get out of her head sometimes once she pulls me in if I'm caught off guard.'

His eyes widened slightly and I knew he felt uncomfortable talking about this kind of thing with me. He glanced at his watch and then changed the subject.

'We should do our cool down stretches then it's time for you to get to class, we were running longer than I realised. And we don't want you being late, or they might not let you go to the dance tonight.'

Shit, I almost forgot about the summer dance, it's tonight.

After finishing our stretches, I straightened up as Dimitri took a step closer to me. He lifted his hand as if he wanted to rest it against my cheek, but all he said was, 'You should really try and get more sleep, I don't like seeing you tired, you're not yourself.'

A slight blush rose up my neck and into my cheeks, what? Since when did Rose Hathaway blush? With that I stepped back and said 'Thanks, Comrade.' And turned my back and headed off to my first lesson of the day, with nervous excitement for the dance running through my bones.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey guys, so here we go with chapter 2. I wasn't sure if this would be a series of one shots or an actual story to begin with, but I think I'm going to continue it as a story, so I'm setting this after Frostbite, meaning the Spokane incident and the loss of Mason have already happened. This is my first story and I've never really done any writing before, so please forgive me for any mistakes I may make, and I would really appreciate any suggestions or constructive criticism you may have. Thanks!**

Chapter 2.

Classes usually go slowly everyday at the academy, but today was particularly painful and slow, I just wanted the day to be over so I could head over to Lissa's dorm and start getting ready for the dance! I was going straight to her dorm after classes, and the boys would come to pick us up when we were ready. When I say the boys, I mean Christian, Lissa's boyfriend, and Adrian Ivashkov, who I had agreed to let take me to the dance once I made it very clear we would only be going together as friends.

Lissa's dorm room was like a bomb site when I arrived: shoes, jewellery and makeup were thrown all over her bed, the floor and her dresser.

'Hey Liss, you look about as calm and collected as I expected you to be.' I said as I cautiously entered the room and closed the door behind me.

'Oh Rose, I'm glad you're here. Sorry about the mess, I just want this dance to be perfect for me and Christian, especially after the last one.' Ah yes, the equinox dance. I try not to think about that night for two reasons: one being that Lissa was kidnapped and we both nearly died, the second being that Dimitri and I were put under a lust spell. Let's just say I came extremely close to losing my virginity that night, which I wouldn't have minded, except I'd like to have been mentally present at the time.

Knowing Lissa had a bottle of diet coke in her wardrobe, I pulled out the bottle of vodka from my jacket pocket that I had stolen from Stan Alto's desk drawer when he wasn't looking. Seeing this, Lissa smiled mischievously and set two glasses on her bedside table. Although technically alcohol is strictly forbidden at the academy, most people manage to get their hands on it one way or another. Besides I knew there was an after party being held in one of the male dhampir dorms later, which I did not plan on going to sober.

Lissa and I started getting ready by putting our dresses on, I had chosen to wear a dark red midi dress with a slit up my right thigh, it clung to my body in a way that made me look older than 17, but meant I wouldn't get told off by one of the teachers for dressing like a slut. Lissa on the other hand was wearing a full length strapless green dress which flowed down to the floor, it made her look like the perfect princess. Once our hair and makeup were finished and we'd just drunk the last sips of our third vodka and coke, there was a knock on the door. Lissa opened the door to Christian and Adrian, both looking quite handsome in their suits. Christian waltzed into the room and kissed Lissa, I could feel her love for him radiating through the bond. Whereas Adrian just stood in the doorway, quite blatantly looking me up and down.

'Close your mouth Adrian or you'll get dribble on your tie, and we can't have the Queen's nephew looking sloppy.'

'Sorry little dhampir, it's hard not to drool while you're wearing a dress like that.' He said as he extended his arm to me. I looped my arm through his and the four of us made our way to the hall where the dance was being held.

The hall was packed with students dancing and laughing when we walked in, a stark contrast to the guardians who were standing to attention at the edges of the room. I found myself subconsciously scanning the row of guardians until my eyes landed on Dimitri. My breath caught in my throat as I realised he was already staring right back at me. I saw his eyes wonder down the length of my body before he caught himself and he looked straight back into my eyes. I threw him one of my man-eater smiles, which then dropped from my face as I saw his back straighten and his features harden when he noticed my arm linked through Adrian's. I knew he didn't like the Ivashkov prince very much, and I gave him an apologetic look before I even realised what I was doing.

That's when Adrian slipped his arm around my waist and led me towards the drinks table. 'Come on Little Dhampir, you look like you need a drink. I smuggled in something a little stronger so we can really get this party started.'

I decided not to mention that I already felt like I couldn't walk in a straight line and accepted the drink he offered, I figured I'd need the boost to get me through tonight, especially when I could feel Dimitri's eyes following me round the room. Let's just hope I manage to relax and enjoy the party tonight.

 **So there we have Chapter 2, I wonder if the party will be as fun as Rose is expecting? I tried to make this chapter a bit longer than the first, after realising that it was quite a short chapter, considering it was the first of the story. Thank you so much for reading, I hope you enjoy it!**


	3. Chapter 3

The night was slowly drawing to an end as a lot of my fellow students began to leave the dance, my feet were killing me from dancing for so long in my high heels, and my head was feeling fuzzy from the drinks Adrian was giving me. Although I was holding my alcohol a lot better than Lissa was, who was clinging onto Christian for dear life, and by the way they were looking at each other I knew I'd be getting pulled into her head at some point tonight, _great._

As some of the last few people left the dance floor, Liss and Christian walked over to Adrian and I and said that they were going to head back to Lissa's dorm for the night, which quite frankly was fine with me. I wanted to be able to enjoy the party tonight without having to worry about Lissa. Don't get me wrong, I always feel the need to protect her and I love the thought of being her guardian one day, but for tonight I just want to let my hair down and feel like myself again.

After we said goodnight to the happy couple, Adrian turned to me. 'Just you and me now Little Dhampir, I heard Eddie is the one hosting the party in his dorm tonight, I thought we could go check it out. Besides, I'm sure there'll be more booze there, which is exactly what I want more of right now.'

As we left the hall I found myself scanning the room again, looking to see if Dimitri was around so I could say goodnight to him, but then I remembered he mentioned he was on patrol duty all night, so I wouldn't get the chance.

Male dhampir's had to share their dorm rooms, seeing as there was so many of them, meaning that the room being used for the party was quite big. That was a relief seeing as there was so many people here. Once we were inside I clung onto Adrian's arm as I bent down to take my heels off, feeling a lot better once my bare feet touched the carpet. After spending some time dancing and talking with the novice's and other students, I felt the alcohol kick in and went to sit down on the edge of one of the beds in the room. Naturally, Adrian followed me over but looked at me with concern when he saw me giggling about something I'd remembered from earlier in the day.

'Wow, Little Dhampir. I don't think I've ever seen you drunk before. I like it, you look more carefree.' He said. 'But maybe I should go and get you some water, or you'll be feeling shitty in the morning.'

I smiled up at him. 'Thanks Adrian, you really are a good guy, you also have great hair, did you know that?' I said while trying to play with bits of his hair with a slight smile on my face. He reluctantly pulled my hands away from him and went to fetch me some water.

A short while after he'd left, I felt the bed dip down next to me, where someone had obviously just sat down. I wasn't in the mood for talking right now so didn't bother looking up to see who was there, hoping they'd ignore me too. That clearly wasn't the case when I felt someone's hand running up my inner thigh and felt someone's breath at my neck. I sat up sharply, immediately on guard and turned to look straight into the eyes of none other than Jesse Zeklos. I started to pull away from him but he held me firmly in place, normally I could put him on his ass in seconds but I was already feeling light headed.

'Now now Hathaway, where do you think you're going? Don't you want to have some fun? I know _exactly_ what girls like you want.' He said as he brought his face closer to my neck and inhaled sharply, his hold on my wrist tightened as he did so.

I was disgusted. ' _Clearly_ you don't know what I want or you wouldn't be anywhere near me.' I forced myself out of his grip and made my way towards the door as quickly as I could. That's when I felt a hand grip my wrist and stop me, I turned sharply ready to tell Jesse to back off again, but I was relieved to see it was Adrian.

'Where are you going Rose? Are you alright?' Wow, he actually sounded concerned about me, and I think that's the first time he's ever actually called me Rose.

'I'm fine Adrian, thanks. I just want to go to bed. I don't want to be around people like him anymore.' Pointing my gaze to the direction of Jesse, so he knew who I was talking about.

Adrian just smiled at me reassuringly. 'Hey, it's ok, I'll walk you back to your dorm.'

'Thanks, Adrian.' I clung on to him as he lead me through the crowd of people still having a fun evening and out of the door.

It wasn't long before we stopped outside my door. 'Thanks again Adrian, I'll be fine from here.' Not wanting to sound rude but I really just wanted to go to bed.

'No worries, Little Dhampir.' He pulled me into a soft hug which I gladly returned. 'And thanks for coming to the dance with me, I hope Jesse didn't ruin your night for you.'

'Not at all, I had a great night thanks to you.' I was feeling bold so I kissed him on the cheek before I stepped out of his embrace, I'll blame it on the alcohol if he ever brings it up again.

Once Adrian was out of sight, I leant back against the wall just outside my door and let out a sigh of relief I didn't realise I'd been holding in.

I heard his footsteps and felt his presence before I looked up to see Dimitri walking down the hallway. This is going to be a tough one to explain seeing as the dance ended over three hours ago and it was now past 3AM vampire time.

'Rose, what are you still doing up?' He asked, he must have seen my ruffled dress and dishevelled look because he then asked, 'Are you ok?'

'I'm fine; I was just getting some fresh air.' I wasn't about to grass the whole year group up and tell him that there's a party going on, although I'm fairly sure the guardians already knew about it.

The roll of his eyes let me know that he knew I was lying. 'I assume you've been to a party. Are you sure you're ok?'

'Really Comrade I'm fine, I ran into a bit of trouble, but Adrian walked me back to my room.'

'Then why are you outside your room, and not in it?' Was his only reply.

I didn't want to explain that I simply couldn't be bothered to find my key and unlock the door, but he must have assumed that would be my answer as he held out his hand and asked, 'Where is your key?'

I shifted my body away from him and pulled the key to my door out of my bra. His eyes widened slightly as he realised what I was doing, before looking away.

I struggled with the lock for approximately 30 seconds while he was watching me before I gave up and held the key out for him to take. He only sighed and took the key from me, unlocking the door straight away. He opened the door for me and I stumbled in after him, only just managing to stay on my feet as well as avoiding knocking into Dimitri completely. Although he did hold onto my upper arm to steady me. I felt a pleasant feeling shock my skin where he was touching, making me look down at where our skin met, I don't know whether he felt it too, but he was looking down at the same place as I was. His eyes however, then travelled further down my arms to where there were 4 finger shaped marks left on my arm. Must have been from when Jesse was holding onto me. I stepped back from him and covered the marks on my arm with my other hand. Due to having such a small dorm room, me stepping out of Dimitri's personal space had led me to sit on my bed.

His whole body had stiffened and his eyes were practically on fire with rage after seeing the marks on my arm, I was quickly searching my mind for some way to calm him down. I stood up and stepped closer to him again, I knew I couldn't deny that anything was there, as he had very clearly seen them, so I went with begging him instead.

'Please don't say anything Dimitri, it's nothing, really.' I looked up to him pleadingly.

'That is not nothing. Who did this to you?' He was staring down at me like I was crazy for not reacting in the same way as him. I knew he was thinking of reporting the incident, which I really did not want to deal with right now. So to stop him from freaking out anymore I took another step closer to him, and placed my hand on his chest, trying to calm him down.

Dimitri and I had not had any physical contact like this since the night of the lust charm; we kept it purely professional during practice and avoided situations like this all the time, in sort of an unspoken agreement. This is exactly why I knew my touch would affect him the way it did. His eyes softened and his body relaxed. I knew he wasn't over it and probably wouldn't forget it happened, but I was confident now that he would keep it to himself. 'I don't like seeing you upset.' Was all he said, almost as if that would somehow justify his reaction.

'I know you don't, but you can't protect me from everything.' Even though I knew how much he wanted to be able to protect me from everything, I knew full well he couldn't.

The next words he said were spoken so softly, I doubt I'd be able to hear them if he wasn't stood directly against me. 'I wish I could.' I hadn't even noticed him putting his hand against my cheek until I felt his thumb stroking my cheek bone gently. I closed my eyes and signed, leaning into his touch. All too soon he withdrew his hand and stepped away from me, placing one hand on the doorknob so I knew he was about to leave. 'I'm still on duty so I need to get back. How about we skip morning practice tomorrow and we just meet in the gym after lunch, I've got a feeling you won't be feeling too great in the morning.'

I gave him a half smile and said, 'Thanks Dimitri, for everthing.'

'You're always welcome Roza, goodnight.' He said before turning and leaving my room.

I soon fell asleep, with the pleasant feeling of my skin tingling where his hand had touched my cheek.

 **So, chapter 3 was a longer one! I kind of got carried away and tend to babble on a bit when I get into writing. I hope this chapter was ok and that it wasn't too long. Thank you so much for reading, and please feel free to give me any suggestions that you think could help me improve! I wrote this chapter rather late at night, so please excuse any mistakes I may have made. I'm still not 100% sure where I'm going with this story yet, so any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks again!**


	4. Chapter 4

Once I woke up it took me a while to finally open my eyes. Thank God it was Saturday today or there's no way I could make it through a whole day of classes without either falling back to sleep or throwing up. And I somehow remembered Dimitri telling me he had cancelled morning training today, which I was incredibly grateful for.

It was lunchtime by the time I had finally dragged myself out of bed. I looked in the mirror and was horrified with the way I looked, my hair looked like a birds nest was resting on the top of my head, and I had makeup smeared down my face which I clearly hadn't deemed important enough to take off last night.

I stepped into the shower and stood under the hot stream of water before finally finding the strength to wash my hair and scrub my face and body, hopefully washing away any remnants of last night. Don't get me wrong, I had a great night with Adrian, and with Dimitri at the end, no matter how awkward my next encounter with him may be. It's Jesse that ruined it for me, my forearm was still sore from where he had held my wrist, but nothing I couldn't ignore. I knew he was an asshole, but that was really next level.

I threw my hair into a messy bun on the top of my head, slipped on some workout leggings and a sports bra underneath a hoodie, ready for my training with Dimitri straight after lunch. I surprisingly wasn't too worried about seeing him after last night, we'd been in worse situations and came out of the other side fine. Knowing him he'll act as if nothing happened, and maybe I'm thinking too far into it, maybe nothing actually did happen.

I finally plucked up the courage to leave my dorm, and reluctantly made my way over to the cafeteria, where I picked up two chocolate doughnuts and joined Lissa, Christian, Eddie and Adrian at our usual table. Lissa gave me a smile when I sat down opposite her and asked, 'So Rose, how are you feeling? I heard you were pretty wasted last night.' Christian gave me a mocking smirk to which I replied with a scowl.

'I'm fine thanks Liss, feeling a bit tired but I'm sure running laps with Dimitri will wake me up.'

Adrian raised his eyebrow to that and said, 'Oh yeah, I'm sure _Guardian Belikov_ will _really_ wake you up.' Luckily no one took notice of his comment.

Once I had finished my second doughnut and cleared all the bacon off Lissa's plate, I felt a gentle tap on my shoulder. I looked up to see Dimitri towering over me. He was wearing his long leather duster and his long hair was tied up at the nape of his neck. I am forever tempted to run my fingers through his hair, but obviously have to stop myself, due to the obvious fact that he's my mentor, and nothing more. 'Ready for training Rose?' I nodded and got up from my seat around the table, saying goodbye to the others as I got up. As I turned my back, Lissa spoke to me through the bond saying _'Good luck Rose.'_ Almost sarcastically. I rolled my eyes and said 'Thanks Liss.' Over my shoulder, this made Dimitri frown in my direction. Although he knew about the bond and what it could do, he still didn't fully understand it.

Dimitri and I walked to the gym side by side in silence, my shoulder occasionally brushing his arm. We started training by running laps around the track. It was going well, I'm pretty sure I was even beating my last time. That is until a group of moroi guys walked past the track, one of them being Jesse Zeklos and his group of idiot followers. 'Hey Rose!' he shouted. 'I much preferred seeing you wearing that dress last night, although I wouldn't mind making you sweat.' Making all the other guys around him laugh. I stopped running immediately, making Dimitri stop dead too, I turned straight around towards the group of boys, mumbling things along the lines of 'Moroi piece of shit.' But before I could get close enough to cause any real damage, Dimitri stepped in my way and pointed towards the gym doors. 'Inside, now.'

I thought about what I should do for a moment before sighing in defeat and walking back to the gym, Dimitri following close behind me, most likely making sure I didn't run back and beat the crap out of those guys.

Once we were inside I turned to face him. 'Sorry you had to see that Comrade, he's a jerk.' Although I liked to act like a joker a lot of the time, in reality I wanted nothing but Dimitri's respect, and I feared he would doubt me if he saw people taking the piss out of me.

He looked angry, but apparently not at me. 'You have absolutely nothing to Apologise for Rose. It's them who should be apologising to you. But seeing as that's not going to happen any time soon, why don't we spar? I think we could both do with letting off a little steam.'

That's not the reaction I was anticipating, but I was eager to spar with him again. We stood opposite each other and he nodded approvingly when he saw me get into the correct sparing stance. I knew he was expecting me to attack first, which is exactly why I went on the defence and waited for him to attack first. He went for a punch to my right side which I managed to block, followed quickly by a kick to my legs which I managed to dodge, but lost my footing slightly while doing so, however managing to stay on my feet. After a while of me blocking his blows, I suddenly changed tactics by stepping right up close to him and hooking my leg around the back of his and pulling, he was almost twice the size of me, so it was hard work bringing him down. He also used this to his advantage and managed to twist as we fell to the floor so I ended up underneath him. We both placed our practice stakes onto each other's chest at the same time, declaring each other dead at the same time.

I dropped my steak to my side and brushed some loose hair from my face while saying, 'Does this mean we're both dead?'

'I guess so' He replied. 'It was clever using your size and speed against me when you stepped closer, although it would be dangerous stepping so close to a Strigoi, however, you managed to pull it off.'

I smiled up at him. 'Sure, I did ok, but I'm still dead.'

He smiled down at me, 'That may be true, but so am I.'

It was then that the position we were laid in finally dawned on me. I was lying flat on my back with him lying directly on top of me, his legs were positioned on either side of mine, I could even feel the pressure of them against me. My breath caught in my throat as I looked up at him, only to see him gazing down at me, I couldn't quite identify the emotions that were running through his eyes, but pride was certainly one of them. His features then softened as he lifted his hand and brushed a loose curl of hair from my face, and tucked it behind my ear. His fingers tangled into the ends of my hair where it had completely fallen out of the bun I put it in earlier. My eyes moved down to his lips without even telling them to, when I looked back up, his eyes flickered back up to mine too. That's exactly when his phone went off. He sprang up off me as if I was a Strigoi about to take a chunk of his neck. He stood looking down at me for just a moment before he snapped himself out of whatever trance he was in and answered his phone.

While he was talking to whoever it was on the phone I slowly stood up, I rubbed my eyes, trying to clear my head. What the _hell_ had just happened? When I looked up at Dimitri again he was just putting his phone down.

'I'll have to cut our training short today Rose, I've been asked to cover someone's shift, starting in 5 minutes.' What a relief.

I smiled at him as normally as I could. 'That's ok, I could really do with some more sleep anyway, see you tomorrow though?' I asked.

His guardian mask was firmly in place by this point, so he only nodded. 'Sure, I'll see you tomorrow morning. And, I'm sorry Rose.' He didn't specify what he was sorry for, but I know he was feeling guilty for losing control, if that's what you wanted to call it.

I didn't want him feeling guilty so I just replied. 'I'm sorry too.' I then left the gym as quickly as I could. Breathing a sigh of relief as soon as I was out in the fresh air. I really hoped this isn't how things were going to be with him from now on. I've always seen Dimitri as more of a friend than a mentor, but I was starting to realise that he may have to be either one or the other, being both just wasn't working.

 **So there we have Chapter 4, I really hope you all enjoyed it. And as always please feel free to review with any suggestions you think could help me improve. Thanks again for reading!**


	5. Chapter 5

The following weeks went by slowly to say the least. Training with Dimitri was difficult, not just because it was hard work, but because we didn't really know how to act around each other anymore. Something was clearly going on between us that neither of us wanted to bring up, or more like we couldn't due to the fact that he's my mentor. I missed being able to joke around with him, I used to kind of look forward to training with him, just because he was easy to be around. Now being in his company was more tiring that the actual working out we did.

Classes were also as boring as usual. Stan Alto continually picked on me and did everything he could to embarrass me in front of the rest of the novices. On the other hand, my physical combat classes were getting better day by day. My time training with Dimitri had really paid off, and I was catching up to the other novices, if not over taking the majority of them.

Things with Lissa were going well too. She was really and truly happy with Christian, and although he is a jerk a lot of the time, he really is good for her. Although that did mean a lot of me getting pulled into her head at the worst times. We were still both learning new things about the bond every day, which mostly kept things interesting.

Then there was the fact that I was still missing my best friend, Mason. Although his death was over two months ago, I still felt the weight of what had happened hanging over me every day. I could even feel his presence with me a lot of the time, which I know sounds crazy. It probably doesn't help that I have to live with two molnija marks on the back of my neck, which I received after killing the two strigoi who were responsible for his death.

All these persistent thoughts were what were causing me to have restless night's sleep. However tonight's dreams were worse than usual. At least when I saw Lissa's nightmares I could concentrate on making sure she was ok, whereas when they're my nightmares, I have nothing to distract myself from them. I woke up sweating with tears streaming down my face after reliving Mason's death over and over again, this time however, the strigoi had all the other people I love tied up in a room. And I was forced to watch them get killed one at a time. The worst bit is that I couldn't move a muscle. I couldn't do anything to stop it.

So really it was a relief when I woke up. I couldn't lie in bed for a second longer; I knew there was no way I could get back to sleep now. So without even thinking to put a jumper on, I threw open my dorm room window and climbed out. My room is on the second level of the building, meaning it's not exactly safe, but I've snuck out of this window so many times over the years that it's almost natural to me now.

Once my feet hit the grass with a light thud, I breathed out a sigh of relief. I looked around over my shoulder once or twice before sitting down on the grass. It was summer now, and in the middle of the Moroi night, meaning the sun was shining outside. One of the things I missed about being on the run with Lissa is the sunlight; I never get to see it anymore now I'm back at the Academy.

Now that I was outside in the fresh air, with the grass tickling my legs and my back against the brick wall of the dorm building, I felt myself begin to doze off. It felt like I'd only had my eyes closed for a second when someone said my name and lightly shook my shoulder. My eyes snapped open and I sat up sharply. Almost head butting the Russian God in the process. I don't know if it's bad or good that it's always Dimitri that finds me breaking the rules.

'Rose, what on earth are you doing out here in the middle of the night?' He said, I saw his eyes scan over me, probably checking that I wasn't injured or something. Although I was wearing pyjama shorts and I did see his eyes linger on my legs longer than they probably should have. When I looked up at him he must have finally noticed how shit I looked, taking in my tear-stained cheeks, as he crouched down next to me and asked, 'Are you ok? What happened?'

'I'm fine; I couldn't sleep and needed some fresh air.' Sure, I wasn't telling the whole truth, but I wasn't exactly lying either.

Like always, he saw right through me. 'Why didn't you tell me you were still having nightmares, Roza?' I had mentioned to him that I was having nightmares shortly after Spokane, but convinced him it was nothing to worry about.

'What could you have done about it even if I had told you Dimitri?' That was a low blow; I knew how much he always wanted to protect me. But I was feeling particularly bitter towards him seeing as we hadn't even had a proper conversation for weeks.

Without being able to think of a reply to what I'd said, he sat down next to me instead. After a few minutes he broke the silence. 'Let me guess, you climbed out of your window?' I gave him a sheepish look which told him all he needed to know. 'And how do you think you are going to get back up there?' He said while raising an eyebrow. I always wished I knew how to do that. 'Oh, don't worry about that, I've done it plenty of times. It's a bit harder going up than it is coming down, but I'm still alive and haven't broken a leg yet, so what could go wrong?'

He rested his head against the wall. 'There's no way I'm letting you climb up two stories, I'll let you in through the back using my key when you're ready. Not that you deserve it.'

It always managed to surprise me how patient Dimitri is with me, I swear no one else would put up with me like he does. I leant my head against his shoulder and said. 'Thank you, Comrade. Just a few more minutes and I'll go up again.'

He nodded and after some time, I felt him rest his head against my own and breathe in deeply. I wish I could stay like this forever. I really didn't give Dimitri enough credit for being as caring as he is. I know he likes to think he's tough, and most people can't see through his well practiced guardian mask. But I can see straight through him and I know all he wants to do is care for the people who are close to him. The world needs more people like him.

After a few more minutes Dimitri slowly got up and extended his hand to me, helping me to get up. I felt this strong need to be close to him, and I don't know whether he did too or whether he was just too polite, but I kept hold of his hand as we walked towards the back door of the female dhampir dorms.

Once he had unlocked the door, we faced each other. I wanted to show him that I appreciated him in a way that wouldn't make him put his walls up again. So I slowly opened my arms and wrapped them around him, giving him what I tried to portray as a friendly hug. Which after a tense second he returned, tangling one of his hands into the ends of my hair while the other held my waist gently. 'Thank you Dimitri, I mean it.' I slowly stepped out of his embrace. 'You're welcome, I wish I could do something to stop the nightmares.' I smiled at him. 'Now go back to bed and try and get some sleep, I expect you to be on time to training later.'

'I'll try. Night Comrade.' I said while stepping through the back door.

'Night, Roza.' Was all I heard before he closed the door behind me and locked it again.

 **So there we have Chapter 5. I hope this chapter wasn't too boring or anything, there are hopefully some more intense bits coming up. Once again I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter. I appreciate every review, favourite and follow I've got so far. And welcome any suggestions anyone might have! Thanks again for reading!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey guys, sorry it's been a few days since I've updated, I had a pretty hectic weekend! I've also been struggling to think of where I can take this story, but I will say more at the end of the chapter, for now though, please enjoy reading!**

A shiver of excitement ran through my body as I felt his lips brush down from my lips to my neck and collarbone. I sighed and ran my fingers through his hair. His fingers dug into my hips, applying the perfect amount of pressure, as I let my hands trail from his face down to the front of his chest and under his shirt. He trailed kisses back up my neck until I parted my lips and we were kissing again. He started to unbutton my shirt and leant back as I stared into his blue eyes. Wait, _blue_ eyes? Dimitri has brown eyes, why are they blue now? Oh shit, I'm in Lissa's head. Crap, crap, crap, crap get out Rose, get out! I practically threw myself out of Lissa's head and opened my eyes to find myself staring straight into the angry face of Stan Alto.

'HATHAWAY' he shouted, which by the tone of his voice, wasn't the first time he had shouted my name trying to get my attention.

'Sorry Sta _-cough-_ Guardian Alto. I was daydreaming.' Trying to think of an excuse that would get me in as little trouble as possible.

'Oh? You were daydreaming? Please, do carry on. Just keep in mind that if a Strigoi had wandered in here, both you and your charge would be dead by now, your charge, who may one day be the Queen of the Moroi. Maybe that will give you something to daydream about.' I straightened my back at that, trying my best to maintain contact with his accusing eyes. I would not let him bully me. 'What's wrong Hathaway? Not got anything to say now?'

By now I was grinding my teeth, trying to keep my temper under control. 'Oh I've got plenty to say, I'm just deciding to be the bigger person, now, why don't we carry on with the lesson, Guardian Alto?' I said in a sickly sweet voice.

'Unfortunately for you, Hathaway, the lesson is over now.' I glanced up at the clock and saw the time, I really had zoned out for a while.

The novices around me started packing up their things and filing out of the room, so I followed them in a haze. I can't believe I had been in Lissa's head for almost an hour without noticing. I'd never been in her head for that long without realising, it worried me. And worst of all, now I was all tense and riled up from seeing what I did. Obviously seeing Christian like that isn't what got the reaction from me, It's that I thought it was Dimitri I was with.

As if thinking of him had summoned him, he appeared in front of me. He raised an eyebrow at me and said, 'Did you really daydream through the whole of Alto's class?'

'I wasn't daydreaming, I was in Lissa's head that whole time, I didn't even notice.' He gave me a worried look at that. 'And you have to admit he was a little harsh Comrade, embarrassing me in front of all the Novices and Guardians like that.'

He nodded his head slightly, 'What he said was harsh, but all true; we need to figure out how to stop the bond affecting your ability to guard a charge. What if you are fighting a Strigoi and you get pulled into Lissa's head? I don't even want to think about it.' He was in mentor mode, but he did say _we_ need to figure it out, not that I did. It made me feel more at ease knowing he would be by my side when I needed him.

'I know you're right, Comrade. I've tried reading history books about and Anna, but none of them go into much detail, and being shadow-kissed isn't mentioned in any other point in history, I swear. It's a pretty big accomplishment that I read outside of classes at all.' I said, exasperated.

He nodded and gave me a sympathetic look, 'We'll find a way to figure it out Rose, you and Lissa will both have to be more careful and cautious of the bond.'

I scoffed at that. 'Believe me, she wasn't being cautious earlier, and her thoughts didn't wonder in my direction once when she was getting down and dirty with Pyro. I still can't believe I had to sit there and watch it that whole time.' I said with disgust.

'I know it must be hard, Rose. And I promise I'll look into it more with you at some point. But right now I have another shift to get to. I'll see you later for practice, and please try to stay out of trouble.' He said with a small smile on his face.

I loved when he finally managed to let some of his walls down around me, only if it was briefly. His smiles practically made my day; he really didn't do it enough.

After we had said goodbye, I turned around only to bump into Alberta, the head Guardian at the Academy. Although most people thought she was scary, I've known her since I was around 4, and she's been like a Mother to me since my real Mum dropped me off at the Academy as soon as she could. She didn't scare me but I could understand why people are intimidated by her. I don't know if she'd caught the end of mine and Dimitri's conversation but she gave me a knowing smile which made me kind of nervous.

'Afternoon, Rose. I see you've been getting on well recently and you are improving faster than anyone thought you could, although I suppose I have Belikov to thank for that. And, you know, I've noticed a real difference in him since he brought you and Vasilisa back here too. I guess you just have that effect on people, although I must say I didn't expect it from him.' I smiled at her. 'Either way, I think you two will get on really well when you're Guardian Partners for Vasilisa. Keep up the good work, I'm proud of you, and your Mother will be too.' She didn't wait around long enough for me to say anything other than, 'Thanks, Alberta.' She always has somewhere to be and never stays in the same place for very long.

But her little speech did give me something to think about while I was walking to my next lesson. Had I really had an impact on Dimitri since he brought us back? I know most of the time he's in boring mentor mode, but he does let his walls down occasionally I guess. I just wish he'd do it more.

 **So there we have Chapter 6. Sorry it's short, it was kind of just a filler chapter as I was hoping I could give you an Idea and hopefully people will reply whether they like it or not? I was thinking of kind of following the Shadow-Kiss book story line, where the group all goes to Court for Victor's trial, because that would definitely include a lot of Rose and Dimitri time. Or I thought maybe they could go to Russia to see Dimitri's family but Rose has to go along as a training exercise, although I've seen it done well before, I just want to make sure I'm writing what you want to be reading! So please let me know what you think, and thanks again for reading!**


	7. Chapter 7

I was having a deep sleep, wrapped tightly in my duvet, in no way, shape or form wanting to wake up anytime soon. So you can understand my delight when I was awoken by Lissa screaming my name in my head. 'ROSE, wake up!' I shot up into an upright position, immediately alert and worried about my best friend. I jumped out of bed and threw on the nearest items of clothing that were in a pile on my dorm room floor, which happened to be a hoodie and leggings. I was just reaching for my doorknob when I got another message from Lissa. 'Dimitri seems to think you'll be panicking now. I'm fine; we just have something to tell you, come to my room.'

Ok wait, why were Dimitri and Lissa together, especially so early in the morning? I glanced at the clock at it was 9 in the Moroi morning, not crazy early but early enough. I'd have to get up soon enough for training with Dimitri anyway; we usually start at 10 on Saturdays. It's not unusual for them to be together, as he's her guardian and everything, but for them to be together casually, and calling me over? That's random.

And so I made my way over to Lissa's dorm room, more calmly this time. I didn't even have time to tie my hair up before I left my room, and so the long curls were running down my back in a bit of a mess. Once I arrived at her room I found her sitting cross-legged on her bed next to fire-boy, with Adrian sat lazily in a chair close by. Dimitri was there too, stood right by the door, looking rather out of place.

I stormed in and stood in front of them all, my hands on my hips. 'What the hell was that all about? You scared the shit outta me Liss!'

'Sorry Rose, I just wanted you to be here. Eddie should be here in a minute too.' Seconds after she said that, Eddie stepped into the room, looking awkward too. Seeing him still caused an ache to run through my heart, he reminded me of Mason, and what had happened in Spokane. It made me feel guilty that he had lost his best friend and I couldn't save him. He looked around at each one of us and said, 'What's going on guys?'

Lissa sat up to get all of our attention as she explained why we had all been assembled. 'Ok, so Alberta came and spoke to me the other day and told me that Victor's trial is approaching soon.' I stood up straighter at that, more on-guard even by the sound of his name. I used to almost see him as a family member; he was like an Uncle to Lissa. Until he kidnapped her and tried forcing her to heal him. She still has nightmares about that night. Luckily Christian and I had managed to help get her out of there. 'We have to go. I have to know he's never setting foot outside of prison again. I'll throw away the key myself if that's what it takes.' I said, without even thinking about it.

'I know, Rose. I said the same thing, as did Christian. And that's exactly what I told Guardian Petrov. She of course said we couldn't go seeing as the trial is all the way in Court, and it wouldn't be ideal for us to be there. Which is why I didn't tell you about it until now.' I started to protest and say how ridiculous that is, when Adrian butted in. 'But, Little Dhampir, I managed to pull a few strings with Aunt Tatiana. And I've managed to get everyone to go. I also pulled it off with the Guardians by saying that you and Eddie could use it as a training exercise.' He said, glancing at Dimitri.

I threw my arms around him without even thinking. 'Thank you Adrian, really. I'll feel so much better knowing that I can see him being sent away first hand.' I un-wrapped my arms from around his neck and turned to face Dimitri, feeling awkward that he had seen that. 'And you'll be coming too, right?' I said, sort of nervously.

He had his Guardian mask firmly in place, but he nodded and said, 'Yes, Guardian Petrov and I will be joining you, as well as a few other Guardians, due to the high profile of the Moroi students coming with us. But not as many as usual will be coming, seeing as yourself and Eddie will be acting as Guardians while we are away.' That was the first time he had spoken since I had stormed in the room, and he made every word count, always the efficient Guardian. Eddie and I nodded along, paying full attention to what he was saying. I knew Eddie would take this seriously, and it made me feel better knowing he would be coming with us to Court.

After a few more minutes of discussing arrangements, Dimitri and I left as it was time for our morning practice. The others all said goodbye to us. 'Better start packing Rose, we're leaving tomorrow morning.' Lissa said as a farewell, knowing full well I wouldn't have much time to pack; she'd probably end up doing it for me.

As Dimitri and I were walking towards the gym, I broke the silence. 'What if they let him go? Victor I mean. Is there any chance that he won't be charged?' I asked him. There was no way I would ask him this in front of Lissa, I wouldn't want to worry her any more than she is already. He looked down at me with a slight crease between his eyebrows. 'I don't think he will get off lightly, although he is a highly respected member of the Moroi community, Lissa is too, even more so if anything. And now that you're all giving first-hand statements of what happened, I think they'll have enough evidence to punish him correctly.' That's right; I would be giving evidence in-front of the court, as would Lissa, Christian and all the Guardians involved, including Dimitri.

'I hope you're right, he deserves whatever he gets for what he did to her.' His face is sometimes quite hard to read, but I knew I could see pride in it then. He's mentioned before that not a lot of novice's my age knew how important it is to be a guardian, and what it truly means. But I know I do.

Once we entered the gym and set up the training equipment, Dimitri stood in front of me and held out a silver stake to me. Although I had practiced with them before, I'd never actually used one out in the open before. And I knew how important this moment would be to him, he's always been reluctant to let me practice with a real stake, I guess now he sees it as the right moment.

'I want you to know that I have been carrying around a spare stake with me at all times since shortly after you arrived back at the academy, just for you, in case you ever might need it. And although you technically aren't allowed one of your own yet, I want you to have this now. Not just for when we go to court, but to keep.' He handed me the silver object over. I inspected it closely. It had lines carved into it from the bottom to the tip, almost like vines going around it, and at the base were my initials. I had noticed before that a few other Guardians had personalised stakes with markings and initials on. But the fact that Dimitri had done this for me overwhelmed me.

'You did this for _me_? You got it engraved?' My eyes were wide with shock from the importance of the gift.

'I know how important getting your first stake is. And I wanted to be the one to give it to you.' He said, looking into my eyes.

'I don't know what to say. You have no idea how much this means to me Dimitri. Thank you.' I couldn't keep myself from hugging him for much longer. I slid my arms around his waist and clung onto him for dear life. After a tense second he returned the gesture. All too soon he un-wrapped his arms from me and I stepped out of his embrace.

'Now, let's go over some moves again with it so you can get used to fighting with a real stake. Hopefully you won't need to use it, and the Court is so strongly warded, you probably won't need to. But I would feel better knowing you can protect yourself properly.

We spent the rest of the day practicing with our real stakes. The sentiment of his gesture left me feeling warm and content inside, a feeling I couldn't shake.

Dimitri let me leave an hour early today so that I'd have time to pack for our trip, we weren't exactly sure how long we'd be gone for as the trail could take up to a few days at least, depending on how quickly they can organise things and come to a decision about his sentencing. Although it doesn't take much thinking about in my opinion. We had to leave during the night, so it would still be daylight outside, as it would be safer for the Moroi. Meaning I would be having an early night tonight. So after having something to eat, showering and packing the last few bits I would need. I went straight to sleep, with my stake resting on my bedside table beside me.

 **So there we have Chapter 7. This chapter is a bit longer than the last few, which hopefully you'll all enjoy, I'm also hoping the next few chapters while they're at Court will be longer too, and we'll see a lot more Rose and Dimitri moments, as well as a bit of drama hopefully! Thank you so much for reading, and once again please feel free to give me any suggestions on ways you think I could improve! Thanks again.**


	8. Chapter 8

After a restless sleep I woke up too soon. The thought of seeing Victor's face again had set me on edge. However the thought that I'd be going away with my favourite people for a few days did make me feel a bit better. And it was especially important to me now I would be acting as a Guardian for some of the trip.

A few minutes after I had woken up, I got a message from Lissa through the bond. 'Get ready Rose, we're leaving in half an hour. We'll come and get you and walk over together.' I'm kind of glad Lissa is always so organised, I'd never get anything done if she wasn't around to plan everything.

I got up out of bed and stepped into the hot stream of water under the shower. I was trying to calm myself down. I'll act cool and collected in front of the others, but in reality, I'm worried about seeing Victor again, not for myself, but I know how much Lissa still fears him. At least I'll be there with her; I'll never let anything hurt her again.

After stepping out of the shower, I got dressed into black skinny jeans with a tight fitting top, and a baggy zip up hoodie over the top. I brushed my hair but left it down seeing as it was still wet from my shower, I'd let it dry naturally. After checking my bag and making sure I had everything I needed, there was a light knock on the door, I opened it to see Lissa, Christian, Adrian and Eddie all stood there with their bags.

'I'm surprised you're actually ready Rosie.' Christian said with a cocky smirk.

'I'm surprised you didn't set your tooth brush on fire while you were packing it fire-boy. We all know how tricky those flames can be to control.' I said with a joking roll of my eyes.

'Give it a rest you two, if we're going to survive a plane journey _and_ a whole trip together you guys are going to have to stop bickering.' Lissa said sternly. Although Pyro and I did bicker a lot, we did have a mutual respect for one another since the Spokane incident. We both saw things that no one can understand except the other.

'We're meeting Guardian Petrov and Guardian Belikov on the runway, so we'd better get going.' Eddie then added in.

I locked my dorm room door and put the key in my bag. We then made our way over to the private runway that's on campus. Once we arrived at the runway, we could tell which plane we would be taking as Dimitri, Alberta and two other guardians were stood beside it talking with each other. It was a small jet compared to the commercial used ones that take people on holiday, but big enough for us all to travel in comfortably. And I'm sure it'll be lavishly decorated inside if Adrian had anything to do with it.

Once we were close enough to the Guardians, they ended their conversation and greeted us, as well as introducing us all to the two other Guardian. They were introduced as Guardians Anderson and Martinez.

After the introductions were done, Dimitri put his hand on my arm and steered me away from the others. 'Do you have your stake with you?' He asked. I nodded and couldn't help smiling up at him. 'I couldn't really think of where would be best to carry it round, so I just put it in my bag for now.' He nodded but frowned slightly. 'We'll have to get you a holster for it, and then you'll look r _eally_ badass.' I knew he was humouring me, as 'badass' is a term I often use to describe things that impressed me.

I gave him another smile which he returned to my delight, and I thanked him again as we walked back to the plane where the others were beginning to board.

As expected the plane was very royal looking inside. It had leather seats and plush carpets. As well as a bar and kitchen area at the front of the plane, which Adrian headed straight towards. I sat towards the back of the plane, wanting to give Lissa and Christian their own space; it seemed the other Guardians had the same idea. Alberta sat near the front as she apparently knew the pilot. I think Dimitri was debating sitting next to me when Adrian wondered over with two drinks in his hand and dropped down next to me. He held out a glass to me which I eyed sceptically. 'Don't worry little Dhampir, it's just coke. I figured you could use the caffeine, you look pretty tired.' Although I could smell the whiskey in his drink from here, I took a small sip from mine, and was pleasantly surprised to find out that it was just coke.

After thanking him we chatted for a few more minutes as the plane was taking off. Once we were up in the air I felt like I could relax a little more, and I started to doze off. I wouldn't technically be on official Guardian duty during the trip. But I knew Dimitri would use the opportunity to help train me at some point.

At some point during my light sleep I heard Adrian get up, probably to get another drink. I then smelt the familiar fragrance of Dimitri's aftershave. And in my sleeping state I craved being near to it. When I finally woke up and opened my eyes, my head was resting on his shoulder and his duster was placed over me like a blanket. He was reading a western book which he put down when he felt me shift and look up at him.

'Hi.' I said. 'Have I been asleep for long?' I asked him. He glanced around the plane for a second and then replied. 'Not too long, Adrian went to get a drink and then sat somewhere else. He and most of the others are asleep now too.' I glanced around and everyone else was indeed asleep. Except the Guardians who were talking at the front of the plane.

I was still half asleep and so I wasn't really thinking when I blurted out, 'I'm glad we're friends again.' He glanced around the plane again but I knew that no one could hear us from where we were. So he looked down at me and said, 'Me too, Rose.'

'Ok look Dimitri, I'm sorry about the lust charm ok? I've been too nervous to bring it up but I feel like you blame me for it. If I'd known that was going to happen, I would have- I don't know what I'd have done. I needed your help then with Lissa but I just managed to make everything worse.' I was rambling. He put his hand on my shoulder to stop me from talking and said. 'Rose, I don't blame you, we both know neither of us had any control over what happened that night.' I started to interrupt him, but he shushed me and continued. 'What happened shouldn't have happened, especially the way it did. But what's done is done, and there's nothing we can do about it now. But I know that it was never your fault, you couldn't have done anything to stop it.' He then moved his hand up to me cheek and rested it there, almost as if he was trying to reassure me.

We stayed sat like that for a few minutes longer, until I noticed Alberta approaching from the corner of my eye. I pulled away from his touch quickly so she wouldn't see, but it left me feeling cold where his hand was before.

She smiled at me as she approached but spoke to Dimitri when she was in front of us. 'Just letting you know we'll be landing soon Dimitri.' With that he got up and went to make preparations with the other Guardians. I feel better now I know he doesn't blame me for the charm. But I still want to know if he regrets it. What am I talking about? Of course he regrets it. Does he even remember it? I'm going to have to pluck up the courage to ask at some point. I can't carry on not knowing.

 **So there we have Chapter 8! Hopefully things will be getting a bit more interesting with Rose and Dimitri now, I kind of wanted it to be a slow burn, because I know that in reality they wouldn't just kiss and be together what with their roles at the Academy and everything. But we'll definitely be seeing some more talk of the lust charm soon! Thanks again for reading, hope you all enjoyed the chapter!**


	9. Chapter 9

The Royal Moroi Court is truly magnificent. I stared out of the airplane window in awe as we circled around it ready to land. It was huge!

Once we landed we were met by more Guardians who escorted up to the visitors quarters. It was sort of like a hotel, full of lavishly decorated rooms for us all to stay in. It was equally as incredible as the rest of the place. We all had rooms on the same floor; Lissa and I were sharing a room, as were Christian and Eddie. Adrian, Alberta and Dimitri all had their own rooms of course. And Dimitri's just so happened to be next to ours, whereas the others were just round the hall.

We were given time to settle in and unpack our bags. We were all meeting at 6 for a fancy dinner that Lissa had arranged for us all. Lissa had let us all know we would be having dinner together on the plane, Alberta's face was priceless when she was told, she clearly wasn't used to being bossed around, or being taken out for tea by a Royal Moroi student. Having a trust fund comes in handy I guess.

Once Lissa and I entered our room, I stopped just inside the door to admire it. It had two large double beds which had soft duvets and feather pillows perfectly decorated with cushions that matched the rug and the curtains. The bathroom was the size of my dorm room back at The Academy and had a massive bath _and_ shower. The room also had a large wardrobe and a beautiful dresser. After Lissa and I had admired every inch of the room, we began to unpack. I was still mesmerised by the room, whereas Lissa was more used to this kind of lifestyle.

After a while of unpacking, I noticed Lissa lift a rather royal looking gown from her suitcase. Shit. 'Hey Liss, how formal is this dinner tonight going to be?' I asked her nervously. I didn't know we'd be going anywhere fancy, and I don't own anything like that, so there's no way I could have known to pack anything similar.

She just smiled up at me and said, 'It's quite a formal place Rose, but don't worry, I've got you covered. This is yours.' She said as she lifted a second full length gown out of her case. It was deep burgundy in colour, it had quite low cleavage but other than that it was perfectly classy. Lissa's was also a similar fit, but hers had a lace high neck collar and hers was light blue in colour. Maybe we'd both look like princesses tonight.

Once we had both unpacked, we flopped down on the incredibly soft beds and just gossiped and chatted like the good old days. Between classes and training with Dimitri, I never really got to spend much time alone with Lissa anymore, and truthfully, I missed her a lot. I could tell from the bond that she felt the same way. 'We should probably start getting ready soon Liss, you handle our hair and I'm in-charge of makeup.'

After I had done both my own makeup and Lissa's, she did our hair perfectly. I had decided to go with a smoky eyed-look with dark lipstick to match my dress, whereas Lissa had gone with lighter makeup, she didn't need it to look beautiful. Her hair was left down, but curled with the front parts pinned back with a silver clip. My hair was up however, I wanted my molnija marks to be on show tonight, almost to make me feel like Mason was here with me. He would have loved it. My hair was twisted into an intricate bun on the top of my head, with a few brown strands left down to frame my face. The last step was to put our dresses and shoes on, which Lissa had also dutifully taken care of for me. We had agreed to meet the others in the hallway, seeing as it was so convenient for us all. Eddie, Christian and Alberta were already outside. The boys were dressed in suits, both looking quite handsome. Alberta was also wearing a fitting power suit. I hadn't expected her to wear a dress, and she still managed to look good. Adrian then came round the corner wearing an expensive looking tuxedo, he of course looked great and gave me a cocky comment once he'd looked me up and down a few times.

Then Dimitri walked towards us and it was like the world had stopped spinning. I'd never seen him dress up before and my God was it a treat. He was wearing a tight fitting suit with a thin black tie and his hair tied back at the nape of his neck. He was heartbreakingly gorgeous. As if he could read my thoughts I saw his eyes take in the whole of my body, I saw the look in them then. He was looking at me with pure primal lust. I was practically drooling myself, the look in his eyes practically setting me on fire. I stared at him for a few seconds longer before someone cleared their throat and I snapped out of my daze.

'We all ready to go then?' Lissa asked, breaking the tense silence. We made our way over to the restaurant, which was all the way over in the main part of Court, where all the shops and other restaurants were located. I took this time to take in as much of the views as I could, this place was really amazing. All too soon we arrived at the restaurant; it was full of people dressed similarly to us, at least we weren't over dressed. I had tried to avoid Dimitri as much as I could on the way over here; I thought I might collapse into a hot mess on the floor if I looked at him for too long.

We were seated at a circular table in one of the quieter parts of the restaurant, and I so happened to be seated opposite Dimitri, how was I supposed to look at him all night dressed like that? I was sat in between Lissa and Adrian; hopefully they would keep me focussed.

Shortly after we sat down and had a look at the menus, a waiter came over. He was a Dhampir, tall and well built with shaggy blonde hair. 'Good evening, my name is Tobias. Can I get you any drinks to start off with?' Before anyone could order, Adrian ordered the table two bottles of champagne, it sounded expensive. I shouldn't have expected anything less from him I suppose. Tobias came back soon after and poured us all a glass of the sparkling liquid, Alberta eyed our glasses sceptically but mumbled, 'Fine, go ahead. I suppose you've all drunk before, at least Dimitri and I can keep an eye on you here.'

The conversation was light and easy for the rest of the evening, and the food was delicious. I felt at ease being around my favourite people, and found myself relaxing into the evening. At some point Adrian had ordered another few bottles of champagne and we were all rather merry by the time we'd finished dessert. Alberta looked around the room and then said, 'It looks like this place is closing soon, perhaps we should head back to our rooms.' We all agreed and headed back to the guest residence. Alberta had drunk the least out of us all and mainly stuck to water, I had also noticed Adrian drinking from a flask at points during the meal when he thought no one was paying attention. Lissa was stumbling slightly on the way back and Christian was holding her up which I was grateful for. Adrian, Eddie and Alberta headed straight to their rooms when we reached the building after saying goodnight and thanking Lissa for organising it.

Christian was helping Lissa to bed and so I was hanging around outside, giving them some privacy. Dimitri noticed this and waited outside with me. He was the first to break the silence. 'You look beautiful tonight, Roza.' A blush rose up my neck and into my cheeks. 'Beautiful? Really?' I rarely ever get called beautiful, it was always hot, or something like that.

'How can you think you don't look beautiful?' Was all he said. After a few moments standing there, he invited me in to his room. After checking the bond I realised I didn't want to be in my room any time soon. Dimitri must have guessed that when he invited me in. His room was similar to mine and Lissa's except his just had one large bed, rather than two.

I was the one to break the silence this time. 'Do you regret it, Dimitri? The lust charm. I have to know, it's been eating me up.' He seemed to take his time with his answer, perhaps debating whether he should tell me the truth or not. 'I don't regret doing those things with you; I just regret how they happened.' My breath caught in my throat, I wanted to make I understood what he was saying. 'What do you mean?'

He stepped closer to me, almost at war with himself. 'I regret not being in control. Not being myself. Not taking my time.' Oh shit. He didn't regret it. He wanted to take his time.

He stepped closer to me so I was almost pressed up against him, and slid his hand up my arm and rested it against my cheek. His touch set fire to my skin. I raised my own hand so it was resting on his, and silted my head until my lips were pressed against the skin of his wrist. I heard a low rumble emit from his chest.

He untangled my hair from its bun and ran his fingers through it. 'You're so beautiful, it hurts me.' He lowered his face so our foreheads were touching, his eyes were searching mine, silently asking if this is what I wanted. How could I not want this? I couldn't wait for him to make up his mind, so I pressed my lips against his. I wrapped my arms around his neck and he kissed me deeply. One arm was around my waist, holding me firmly against him which the other was tangled deeply into the ends of my hair. I couldn't get enough. I gasped for breath and he took the opportunity to take control of my mouth with his tongue. I couldn't get enough of him.

He walked us backwards until he sat down on the bed, I climbed right on top of him until I was straddling him, the skirt of my dress was hitched up over my thighs. He trailed his hands down my body until they were each placed on my thighs and he gently started rubbing them. Before I even realised what was happening I let out a deep moan from my throat. He pulled his mouth from mine and pulled one of the straps of my dress down my shoulder and started kissing my neck and shoulder. I took his tie off and started unbuttoning the top buttons of his shirt. I couldn't help myself; I put one of my hands inside his shirt and resting it on his chest. He growled and nipped the skin on my shoulder with his teeth before his mouth took hold of mine again.

I was so lost in the feeling of him that I barely heard Lissa speaking to me through the bond. 'Rose, Christian is gone, you can come back now. Sorry for making you wait.' Shit.

I reluctantly pulled away from Dimitri and stood up. He stayed where he was but his eyes snapped up to meet mine. 'Christian has left now, I need to get back or Liss will wonder where I am.' He stood up and began to walk over to me again, but obviously thought better of it as he stopped dead and said, 'Goodnight Roza.' I gave him a shy smile and left his room. I breathed a sigh of relief once I was out in the hall. How the fuck did that happen? Why hadn't we done that before now? I shook myself out of my thoughts and entered our room as if nothing had happened.

 **Hey guys, so there we have Chapter 9! Finally! Sorry I got a bit carried away, but I wanted their first proper kiss to be good as we've been waiting so long. I hope you all enjoyed it and it wasn't too graphic for anyone. I'm not sure if I should have rated it M or if I should in the future? But thanks again so much for reading, and please feel free to review with any suggestions for ways I can improve, I love to hear from you all!**


	10. Chapter 10

I had a restless night's sleep. Not just because of what happened between me and Dimitri, although that did have a lot to do with it. I lay awake for at least an hour before I finally dozed off, just replaying what had happened. How incredible his touch felt on my skin.

But no, the main reason I had a restless sleep was because all of the darkness that was surrounding Lissa. We hadn't had very many problems with it recently, we'd both work together to keep the problem under control. But tonight it was a lot worse. It was caused by her thoughts of seeing Victor tomorrow at the trial. The darkness caused her to have nightmares, which I had to watch as well. I hated seeing her like this. And so while I was asleep I somehow managed to take the darkness from her. Not just a little bit, but all of it. I absorbed the darkness from her quite regularly now, but always in small amounts, so we could both handle it together. Now however, I wasn't really in control of how much I was taking because I was asleep.

I knew I'd taken too much when the nightmares started, not in Lissa's head this time, but my own. I'm not sure you could even call them nightmares. I was aware they were happening but I couldn't do anything to escape them. I was seeing terrible, terrible things. Things the darkness must have conjured up from my deepest fears. Words could not even explain the pain and terror that was holding me firmly in its grip.

I was screaming so loudly in my head, I knew I must have been screaming in real life too by now. In the visions, Dimitri was brutally turned strigoi and he was torturing me mentally and physically. I had to watch him slowly kill all the people I loved. Time didn't exist now; I had no idea how long this was going on for. He could kill me if he wanted, I wouldn't give a shit. I just couldn't watch him hurt them, but there was absolutely nothing I could do.

During all of this I was still somewhat aware of my body, and I could feel it being shaken, I must have been making a lot of noise. After what felt like years, the darkness finally released its grip on me and I opened my eyes. The first thing I saw when I opened my eyes was Dimitri's face. Fear twisted deep in my stomach, making me shove him off me as hard as I could, making him stumble backwards. I located Lissa just behind him and pulled her behind me. 'Stay away from her!' I growled at him, not even thinking. I could see the hurt in his eyes, hurt I had caused him. I immediately realised then that this was Dimitri, my Dimitri.

I relaxed from my protective stance and let go of my grip on Lissa's arm. 'I'm so sorry.' I whispered as I sunk down onto my knees. I could feel the tears leaking from my eyes and didn't even have the strength to wipe them away. Dimitri was there in a heartbeat and cautiously put his arm around my waist, almost expecting me to lash out at him again. I leant into his touch so he must have known I wouldn't snap again. I felt him carry me over to the bed; I put my hand on his cheek to get him to look me in the eye and said, 'It's really you.' He nodded down at me with a sad smile on his face. 'What happened?' I asked, 'Are the others all ok?' Lissa spoke then for the first time. 'They are all fine Rose, they're still asleep, and it's 3AM. I think you must have taken too much of the darkness, you were screaming and clawing at your arms, I couldn't wake you up. I was so scared, Rose. I went to get Dimitri and he finally got you to calm down.' I glanced down at my arms and they were red and raw, as were my fingertips. What had I become?

'I'm sorry I scared you both, I didn't even realise I was taking that much until it was too late.' They were both still staring at me, clearly worried. 'Its fine Rose, really I should be thanking you. Just please try not to let it happen again.' I laughed nervously. 'Believe me, Liss, I don't ever want that to happen again. And please don't tell the others this happened, Christian would never let me forget it.' Lissa nodded in agreement, but Dimitri hesitated. 'I may have to let Guardian Petrov know if it becomes an issue Rose.' I nodded, I expected him to say something similar to that, and honestly I didn't mind Alberta knowing, I just didn't want to become the laughing stock of the Academy.

Dimitri was perched on the edge of my bed, and his hand found mine under the bed covers, where Lissa wouldn't be able to see. His thumb stroked the top of my hand. 'I was so worried about you, Roza.' He whispered so Liss wouldn't hear. I gave him a genuine smile to reassure him that I really was fine.

I could feel how tired Lissa was through the bond, and so I told her that I'd be fine and that she should get some sleep. Dimitri insisted on staying with me for a little longer until he was sure I was ok. Once I was sure Lissa was asleep, I tugged Dimitri over so he was lying next to me and curled up into his side, his arms wrapped around me. I felt whole again.

All too soon I heard Dimitri shift his body position so he was sitting up, he pressed his lips against my ear and whispered, 'I should go, goodnight my Roza.' He pressed his lips to my forehead and inhaled deeply. The chances are he was never going to kiss me again like he did last night, and so I took this opportunity to tilt my head up until my lips found his. He kissed me back for just a moment before he pulled away and left after giving me a lingering look.

I lay back down onto the soft bed and sighed. I knew Dimitri and I wouldn't be able to carry on like this for much longer, it wouldn't be too long before he told me we had to end whatever this is. So I almost felt like I had to make the most of it before he truly made his mind up.

I glanced at the clock on my bed side table. It was 4AM now; we had to get up in 5 hours to prepare for the trial. We would all be speaking and giving evidence of the events that took place that night. I knew Lissa was nervous and so I will focus all of my energy on being there to support her. Knowing that Dimitri would be doing the same for me.

My mind always seemed to wonder back to him, and my stomach twisted every time it did. It's going to be difficult staying away from him when the time comes.

It took me some time to fall asleep again, I was afraid that the darkness would take hold of me again. I didn't like to admit when I needed help, but it made me feel better knowing I had Lissa and Dimitri there for me if I needed them again.

 **There we have Chapter 10! Sorry it's not quite as exciting as the last chapter, nor is it as long, but I suppose not every chapter can be perfect for Romitri! Thanks again to everyone who has favourited, followed and reviewed my story, you have no idea how much I appreciate it! Thanks again for reading.**


	11. Chapter 11

I woke up to Lissa gently shaking my shoulder. She must still be cautious of me after what happened last night. She had a sad smile on her face when I opened my eyes. 'Come on Rose, it's time to get up and go.' I nodded and slowly pulled myself out of bed. 'I really am sorry about last night Liss, I'm didn't mean to worry you.' She came up to me and surprised me. She wrapped her arms around my shoulders and hugged me. After a few seconds, I hugged her back. It felt good to be close to her again, I had really missed her. She pulled away and said, 'Right, go and have a shower. We're leaving soon. Oh, and Dimitri left this for you.' She gestured to a pile of neatly folded clothes placed at the foot of my bed. There was a note on the top. It was addressed to me and was written in Dimitri's neat handwriting. _'You've got the stake, now all you need is the Guardians uniform. Wear your hair up. Dimitri.'_ I couldn't keep the smile off my face. Lissa came out of the bathroom dressed in formal trousers and a blouse. 'What is it?' She asked. I turned to face her but kept the note out of sight. 'Dimitri got me a Guardians uniform.' Was all I said as an explanation. I'm not quite sure why he did it, so I couldn't explain it to her.

The uniform consisted of black trousers, a white fitted shirt and a black blazer. I dressed quickly after a quick shower, and tied my hair up. Leaving my neck vulnerable for all to see my molnija marks, it made me slightly on edge.

We were meeting everyone else at the breakfast restaurant, and so Lissa and I walked down together. I felt out of place wearing my uniform, I wasn't technically a Guardian yet, but Dimitri must have thought it was ok for me to wear it. Everyone was already sitting around a table when we arrived. Eddie was wearing a similar outfit to me, as were Dimitri and Alberta. Dimitri looked up as we entered and gave me a nervous smile, asking if I was ok. I gave him a nod and a smile back, assuring him I really was fine.

Breakfast flew by quickly with light conversation flowing easily. We walked over to the grand building where the trial was taking place. I could feel Lissa's nerves radiating through the bond and so I put my arm around her, I felt her nerves diminish immediately.

The trial went by slowly. It was absolutely awful seeing Victor's smug face again. Even after being proved guilty he still tried worming his way out of it. As I'd feared he brought up what happened between Dimitri and I with the lust charm, but no one believed what he said, and thought even less of him after he said that. Dimitri and I both agreed we would say it was a charm which forced me to attack him, not pounce on him in a sexual way. I could tell how much it pained him to lie in front of the court, but we both knew it had to be done.

Victor was thankfully found guilty, and was faced with life in prison. Which I doubt would be very long, although Lissa had healed him when he kidnapped her; he still looked sickly and ill. I found some pleasure in the fact that he would die in prison. We all collectively breathed a sigh of relief when we left the court knowing we'd never have to see him again.

The trial had taken most of the day and after lunch we all went back to our rooms to rest for a while. Tonight, Adrian had invited us all down to the pools, they were located in a large basement type room, and I've heard it's incredible. With hot tubs and sauna's and everything! I was looking forward to just relaxing and celebrating the result of the trial for a while before we had to fly back to the Academy tomorrow morning.

Lissa and I got room service for tea, which Eddie and Christian joined us for. A short while after we let our food settle, we got changed into our bikinis and swimming costumes and headed down to meet Adrian by the pool. Christian was joining us a bit later as he was meeting up with one of the few family members who he had left, he didn't say who.

The pool area was as beautiful as I expected. It was open-planned with marble floors and walls. The pools were large and had a few smaller more private pools dotted around the edge of the room, as well as a sauna and steam room. There was also a bar along one end of the room which Adrian headed straight towards. Lissa, Eddie and I all walked over to one of the larger pools, Lissa sat down on the edge of the pool with her feet dipped into the water. 'It's lovely and warm.' She told us with a content smile on her face. Eddie held out his arm, gesturing for me to go ahead of him. I planted my feet and shook my head. 'Hell no Castile, you're first.' He gave me a mischievous grin at that, grabbing me around my waist and jumping into the pool, efficiently throwing me in with him. I let out an alarmed shriek and splashed him when I resurfaced from the water, effectively starting a water fight.

Adrian soon walked over with drinks for all of us. Cocktails all round. I assumed they were non alcoholic but by the time I'd drunk the last sip I felt a pleasant numbness run through my hands and feet, which I associated with the effect of alcohol. After a while I leant back against the pool wall and closed my eyes, enjoying the feeling of the warm water surrounding me. After what felt like only a few moments I felt two hands grip my ankles and pull me sharply under the water. I immediately kicked whoever's hands they were off me, and swam up to the surface of the water, gasping for air. I turned around to see Dimitri with playful smirk on his face. I'd never seen him look playful before, I liked it. 'What the hell, Comrade?! Where did you even come from?' I shrieked at him. I wasn't aware he was joining us tonight. That got a smile out of him. 'Eddie and Christian told me you were all coming down here, and I saw you sitting with your eyes closed, I thought I'd give you a bit of training, see how you react being caught off guard.' I rolled my eyes at him, a smile tugging at my lips. 'How did I do then?' I asked him jokingly, I obviously did awful. 'It could do with a bit of work.' I nodded in agreement.

It was then that I noticed how close Dimitri and I were standing to each other. My chest was almost brushing his, I could feel the warm radiating off him, I craved it. I looked up at his face and saw him look up over my head, he frowned slightly at something I couldn't see behind me, and mumbled something which sounded similar to, 'For fucks sake.' That got my attention, Dimitri never swears, especially in front of me.

I turned around and saw Christian walking in with his mystery relative. Who just so happened to be none other than Natasha Ozera. Perfect. Just what I needed. Don't get me wrong, I used to really like Tasha, she seemed nice when we first met. Then at the ski lodge she got all possessive over Dimitri and asked him to be her Guardian, which he declined (obviously). But I'm still pretty sure she's obsessed with him, I mean who wouldn't be? And by the way she was gazing across the room at him now, she definitely still had feelings for him.

Dimitri told me he'd catch up with me later and got out of the pool to say hello to Tasha. She practically threw herself into his arms, making a massive scene. Lissa also went over to say hello. I stayed put, I couldn't bare being around her right now. Adrian and Eddie joined me at the opposite side of the pool to the others. Adrian whispered in my ear, 'Jealousy isn't a good look on you, Little Dhampir.' I scoffed at him, 'I'm not jealous Adrian. Go flirt with some random girl or whatever it is you do in your free time.' He gave me a cocky smirk at that. 'Why would I flirt with other girls when I have you right here?' Eddie butted in then and told us to quit bickering, if that's what you called it.

Dimitri, Tasha, Christian and Lissa soon left to catch up. Leaving Eddie, Adrian and I to enjoy the rest of the night. We played a few games in the pool before we decided to call it a night. Both boys offered to walk me to my room but I politely declined, kind of wanting to be on my own for a while.

Once I finally reached the hallway our rooms were on, Dimitri was coming up the hall from the other direction. I avoided his eye contact and tried walking straight past him. That went well. He grabbed my arm lightly and turned me to face him. 'Where have you been Rose? Are you alright?' Hah, always _'worried'_ about me. 'I haven't been anywhere Dimitri, not that it's any of your business. Where have you been? In Tasha's room? Is her bed as comfy as yours?' I was being petty, very petty. But I couldn't help myself. Dimitri unlocked his door and pulled me in after him before checking the hallway to make sure no one saw.

'Why are you saying that Rose? You know Tasha and I are only friends.' I rolled my eyes at that. 'That may be true, but for how much longer? You and I both know that she wants it to be more.' He took a step closer to me. I was making him angry. 'What about what I want Rose?' The look in his eyes was hard to read, and so I asked, 'What do you want, Dimitri?' I took a step closer to him, I was testing my luck.

There was no warning to what he did next. He wrapped his arm around my waist, pulled me closer so I was pressed firmly up against his body, and he kissed me. I wasn't expecting that. But of course I kissed him back, there's no way I couldn't kiss him back. I wrapped my arms around his neck and ran my fingers through his long, soft hair. His scent wrapped around me and I inhaled deeply. He pushed me back until my back was pressed against the wall. I jumped up and wrapped my legs around his waist. My body was moving before my brain even thought about it. He was holding me up by my thighs now, his thumbs gently rubbing circles into them.

He moved his kisses down to my neck and murmured 'Roza' against my skin, I hummed in response, it might have been more like a moan actually. 'We have to stop this.' Was what he said next. That made my whole body freeze. He noticed the difference in me and pulled his mouth from my skin immediately. I shoved him off me and stepped back a few paces. I could tell he was confused.

'What the f _uck,_ Dimitri.' There's no way I should be able to speak to him like that, but I didn't care right now. 'What?' He said, clearly shocked. I actually laughed at him. _'We have to stop this?'_ What does that even mean Dimitr? If you don't want this then why are you fucking me about?' He looked guilty as well now, he tried taking a step towards me but I just took another step towards the door. 'I did not say I didn't want this, Roza. I just mean we shouldn't. I'm still your mentor, being here doesn't change that, and we're going back to the Academy tomorrow. It'll be too risky.' I laughed at him again. I was angry. 'Has Tasha got something to do with it? Is it because she's so much more suitable than me? She's definitely a better age; she's like 50 isn't she?' I knew Tasha wasn't really the reason, but I wasn't thinking I just felt the need to rub salt in the wound. He started to speak then but I'd had enough of the conversation already. I turned, opened the door and left without another word.

 **There we have Chapter 11! Can't believe I've made it this far already! This chapter is a bit longer as quite a lot happened and I got carried away again! There's always a bit of drama for our favourite couple. Hope the chapter was ok and you all enjoyed reading it!**


	12. Chapter 12

After yet another fitful night's sleep, I woke to Lissa's alarm blaring out. It was 9AM now and we had to be on the plane by 10. I didn't get chance to pack last night, so I'd be doing that now instead of having breakfast. Once Liss was out of the shower, I jumped in after her. She said she was heading down to meet the others for breakfast, but she'd bring me something up. I'm kind of glad I didn't have to sit around a table and make small talk with them all. Especially if Dimitri and Tasha would be there.

Once I was out of the shower, I looked in the mirror. There were dark bags hanging under my eyes, having a few shitty night's sleep was really starting to take its toll on me. I dressed in black ripped jeans and a vest top, with a light jumper over the top; it was still warm outside, which I was thankful for. I didn't bother putting any makeup on and left my hair down to help it dry off naturally.

Lissa came back up to the room at about quarter to 10, just as I was zipping up my suitcase. I was dreading going back to the Academy, but I was also ready to leave Court now I knew Victor was locked up for good. I just wanted to get away from everything. We would be meeting everyone else on the plane. As Lissa and I were walking to the runway, she broke the news to me. 'Oh Rose, I forgot to tell you! Tasha is coming back to the Academy with us to visit for a bit, isn't that great?' It felt like I had been punched in the stomach, I lost the ability to breathe for a few seconds. It was times like this that made me so grateful the bond was only one way. 'Yeah, that's great Liss! It'll be good for you and Chris to have her around.' I said, trying to sound enthusiastic. She nodded along with me. 'Yeah I think it will be nice for Guardian Belikov to have a friend around too.' Great. I couldn't think of anything else enthusiastic to say and so I just smiled and nodded at her, that seemed to be good enough of a reaction for her.

Lissa and I were the last to arrive onto the fancy jet, and so everyone had already taken their seats. Lissa said she'd catch up with me later and went to sit with Fire-boy and his _lovely_ aunt, who just happened to be sitting next to Dimitri. Eddie was sat a few seats away and so I went to sit next to him, Adrian then sat opposite me with a drink in his hand. The rest of the Guardians were at the front of the plane.

Adrian leant over the aisle to speak to me without being overheard. 'Trouble in paradise, Little Dhampir?' That got a sarcastic laugh out of me at least. 'What _paradise_ , Adrian?' He didn't have a snarky response to that, score one to Hathaway. It took most of the day for us to get back to the Academy, and I had managed to sleep for most of the journey which was a bonus, I really didn't want to listen to everyone going on about Tasha the whole way home.

Once we landed I couldn't get out of the plane fast enough. I waited outside so I could say goodbye to Lissa and made up some excuse as to why I wasn't joining them for dinner. Just as I turned my back to leave, Dimitri put his hand on my arm and turned me to face him. I brushed his hand off me. He gave me a nervous look. 'Remember we have training tomorrow morning, Rose.' I gave him an incredibly fake smile, and didn't break eye contact once, 'Sure thing, Guardian Belikov.' Tasha than joined us and put her hand on Dimitri's arm, causing him to turn and look at her. I didn't wait around to hear what she had to say and practically ran to my dorm room.

I don't even remember falling asleep, but I woke up in the same clothes I travelled back in, what a mess I'm becoming. I threw my alarm off the bedside table to make it shut up, and got dressed into my gym clothes and threw my hair up into a pony tail on the top of my head. I jogged to the gym where I was meeting Dimitri. He was setting out the gym mats when I walked in. I immediately went to help him, like I normally do. His hair looked scruffier than normal, and he also had stubble starting to grow on his chin, which wasn't normal. He noticed me studying him and said, 'I had a rough night.' As a way of explanation. 'Yeah, I bet you did.' I replied, incredibly blunt. He looked taken aback. 'Rose, that's not what I meant-' I turned my back on him then, not wanting to hear what he had to say. 'Guessing I'm running laps first?' I said. Not waiting for an answer as I ran through the door and started running laps.

Once I'd finished my laps I went back inside the gym and stood in front of Dimitri expectantly, waiting for him to tell me what I should do next. 'How about we spar for a while to end the session?' He said. I nodded and went to step onto the mats and got into the correct position for sparring.

We had been sparring for about 10 minutes now and it was a pretty even fight so far, he'd got in a few good hits on me, but so had I. I'd just swiped my legs under his, making him stumble slightly, I then sent a punch towards his stomach, hoping to wind him. I got back into position, letting him catch his breath.

I blinked, but when I opened my eyes I wasn't seeing Dimitri ready to get back to fighting. No, I saw the back of a car seat. Lissa's dad was driving, her mum was in the passenger seat. Oh no, I know what's happening. Lissa and I turned our heads to see me and Andre Dragomir sitting next to her. We were all laughing and singing. I looked happy. Then headlights flashed in the reflection of my eyes and the next thing I know I could see my body hanging awkwardly out of the car window. Covered in blood. The rest of the family were nowhere to be seen. I could hear Lissa crying. I then saw her hands reach out towards me and felt the familiar tingle of her healing powers running through her arms and out of her hands, into me.

My eyes snapped open again but this time Dimitri's worried face was looking down at me. The first strange thing I noticed was the blinding pain that was shooting down the left side of my face. I put my hand up to my face, it came away bloody. Why was my nose bleeding? 'Roza, are you ok? What the hell just happened?' I looked up at him, confused. 'You tell me. Why the hell does my head hurt so much?' He pulled a tissue out of his pocket and held it against my nose for me, it came away red. I pulled away from him and got up on unsteady legs. 'Rose, you should sit back down. I was going in for a hit while we were sparring; I went for your head, obviously expecting you to dodge. But you must have been pulled into Lissa's head, your eyes were blank. I didn't have time to notice before I hit you. I'm so sorry, I need to get you to the infirmary.' I stepped away from him again, he hit me? 'No.' I said firmly. 'I'm not going to the infirmary. I'll go and have a shower and I'll be fine. See you tonight for practice.' Once again I left without waiting for a reply from him, I heard him come after me, but I had obviously frozen him in shock. I also thought it would be best to leave out the part about seeing black spots around the edges of my vision.

 **So there we have Chapter 12! It's Mother's Day today where I live (England) and if it is where you live then I hope you've all had a nice day, and even if it's not! Hope you enjoyed this chapter, sorry it's not as long as the last one! Thanks for reading!**


	13. Chapter 13

Once I left the gym, I tried pulling myself together as I made my way back to my dorm room. I washed the blood off my face in the shower, and got dressed again. I felt a bit more refreshed after my shower, but my head was still killing me. Thankfully I only had theory classes this morning, so I wouldn't have to try fighting the other novice's while my head felt like this.

I made it through morning classes quite successfully all things considered. Stan Alto even praised me on my ability to not cause trouble for two hours. I felt Dimitri's eyes burning into the back of my head the whole lesson. I didn't even have to look to know he was standing guard over the class at the back of the room.

After Stan had dismissed us from the room, Eddie and I walked down to the door together. I couldn't help myself; I glanced up at Dimitri as I walked past him. I only looked at him for a second but it was long enough to see the worry lacing his features. I looked away before he could say anything.

After queuing in the lunch line with Eddie, I only picked up a chocolate doughnut. After taking a bite I was disappointed to find out that I couldn't even taste it, my nose must still be blocked. I left my hair down today so hopefully people wouldn't notice that anything was wrong with me, and mostly they didn't. That is until Adrian got a look at me, he noticed something amiss straight away. 'Might I have a word with you outside, Little Dhampir?' He asked me. I nodded at him and gave Lissa and the others a confused look as a way of explaining I didn't know what he wanted. He led me further than just outside, and before I knew it we were outside his door in the Guest's residence. He didn't say anything until we were inside. Then he turned to me. 'What they hell happened to you, Rose? Who did that?' I averted my eyes from his and subconsciously turned my face to the side so he wouldn't see the black eye that I'm sure was forming. 'I got pulled into Lissa's head while I was sparring with Dimitri this morning. He got a good hit to my head. I wouldn't let him take me to the infirmary.'

Adrian walked over to me then, and placed his hand gently on my head, right where Dimitri had hit me. I flinched at the tenderness of the skin there. A look of pure concentration etched onto his face, and before I knew it the pain in my head and nose was gone. Had Adrian just healed me? I knew he had been working with Lissa to try and learn her skills, as she had been learning his, but I had no idea he could actually heal people now. And by the look on his face, he didn't know he could do it either. A light sheen of sweat had appeared on his forehead, but he had a small smile on his face, he must have been proud of himself. I slipped my arms around his waist and thanked him; I hadn't expected him to do this for me. He quickly shrugged off my embrace and stood up sharply. 'No problem, Little Dhampir. I could really do with a drink and a smoke right now, hope you don't mind.' His hands were shaking. He lit himself a cigarette and poured out a golden liquid from a glass decanter which was on his coffee table. He sluggishly dropped himself down on the sofa opposite me. He leant his head back against the back of the sofa and closed his eyes.

The darkness must be getting to him. 'Is it the darkness, Adrian? What can I do to help?' He kept his eyes closed but smiled reassuringly in my direction. 'It's no worse than usual, just feeling weak now. I see everything you know, everything. I see your aura, I see the darkness. I see his aura too. They're strange things.' He was rambling; I knew this was one of the side effects the darkness had on him. Lissa normally feeds after she's used her powers a lot. He needs blood. I went to sit next to him and pulled the sleeve of my jumper up, exposing my wrist to him. 'Adrian.' I said to get his attention. He opened his eyes and glanced down at my wrist. 'Rose, what are you doing?' He asked, I knew he knew what I was doing. 'You need blood; I need a way to repay you for healing me. Take it, please.'

He took my wrist gently in his hands; I gave him a reassuring nod when he nervously glanced up at me again. 'I'm so sorry.' He whispered just before his lips touched my wrist. He gave it a light kiss before I felt the familiar throb of pain as his fangs pierced my skin. Then the rush of pleasure as his venom ran through my veins. I used to feed Lissa regularly while we were on the run from the Academy; I was sickened at the thought that I had missed the feeling. All too soon I felt his fangs ease out of my flesh. I leant back on the sofa and breathed out a contented sigh. I felt him lick up a few drops of blood that had escaped, and placed another kiss to my wrist, I couldn't find the strength to react in any way.

He got up shortly after; he pulled my feet up onto the sofa and placed them under a pillow, so they were up high to stop me feeling faint. He left my line of sight and came back with a glass of water and a packet of biscuits. He held them out to me until I took them and ate a few of the biscuits and downed the water. I felt better already.

I stayed with him for about half an hour longer, but lunch was over soon so I had to get up and make my way over to the gym where I had training with the other novices; Alberta was leading our training today. I pulled my shirt sleeve over the bite mark on my wrist before I left. I still felt wobbly as I made my way over to the gym, but most of the effects of the bite had worn off by the time I walked in. There were usually a few other Guardians that joined in our practical classes, to observe, teach and help us where they could. And today, Dimitri was one of them.

He looked up as soon as I walked in, and there was no way I could miss the look of surprise on his face when he saw my face clear of its black eye and bleeding nose. Yeah, that'd give him something to think about.

Training was strangely uneventful, which was surprising considering the day I'd had. No one seemed to notice me stumble every now and then, nor did they notice the occasional tremor that ran through my arms.

Dimitri and I were meeting in the Gym straight after practice, so I hung back while all the other Novice's left, as did Dimitri. We stood awkwardly at the side of the room until the room was empty except the two of us. Then he turned to me. His eyes were on fire. 'Lissa healed you. She fed on you afterwards. And you're training straight after. Do you have a death wish, Rose?' He was almost right; I was shocked at how accurate his assumption was. 'Adrian. It was Adrian that healed me. I didn't let Lissa know I was hurt.' He stormed his way over to me and pushed my hair over my shoulders, making me flinch. He was looking for something, which he obviously didn't find. He took my hands one at a time and pulled my sleeves up. He set eyes on the bite mark and dropped my hands immediately, as if he was disgusted with me.

'I made him do it, as a thank you for healing me. Now are we training or are you just going to stand there the whole time?' I went to stand on one of the gym mats, expecting him to follow me. 'No. Not while you're in this condition, it's not safe.' I rolled my eyes at him. 'I've just lasted two hours fighting with the novice's just fine.' He shook his head at me, I was winding him up. 'No, you weren't lasting just fine. I saw you stumbling, and don't think I didn't see you shaking too. You need to eat and you need to rest.' I wasn't going to argue with him. So I nodded and mumbled. 'Fine, Guardian Belikov. See you tomorrow morning.' I noticed the hurt flash in his eyes before he slammed his Guardian mask back in place. He had no reason to be hurt. What a shitty day today had been, I was grateful for one thing though, I hadn't seen Tasha at all today.

 **So there we have Chapter 13, can't believe I've made it this far! Hope you all enjoyed it, I'd really appreciate any suggestions you have of what you'd like to read in the future, thanks again for reading and all your support!**


	14. Chapter 14

The week went by slowly after that. Dimitri and I carried on with training as usual. Although he wasn't quite as hard on me as usual the morning after we argued about what happened with Adrian. Things had been pretty uneventful after that. I was still feeling awkward around Dimitri. I didn't know where we stood after he told me we shouldn't have been kissing, why had he kissed me then?

Things with Adrian had changed since I let him feed on me too. He acted the same around everyone else but I noticed the way he was looking at me, like he was observing me. As if I was a puzzle he was trying to put together. Other than that, classes were going well. As were things with Lissa, we were both handling the darkness together.

It was Friday now, and Dimitri and I were just doing our cool down stretches after training, we hadn't spoken much so I was startled when he started a conversation about something other than training. 'Tasha is taking everyone out for dinner tonight.' He said. Wow, was he trying to make me feel like shit on purpose? I laughed sarcastically. 'Great, have fun.' I turned my back on him, getting ready to leave. 'Rose wait, she's invited you as well.' That made me stop and turn to face him, to check he wasn't lying. 'Why would she invite me? I'm not exactly her favourite person.' A light flickered in his eyes. 'That may be true, but she knows we all want you there. Besides, she asked me to be her guardian again.' I started to shut down on him again, but he continued. 'But I stood by my answer; there are things I'm not willing to leave behind here, at the Academy.' That got a smile out of me at least.

My train of thought was disrupted when Lissa sent me a message through the bond. Telling me I'm coming to the meal tonight whether I like it or not, and to wear a dress. My smile got slightly bigger at the tone she used to boss me around. 'Lissa's just filled me in, and she hasn't given me an option to not go. So I guess I'll see you tonight.' He bid me goodbye and we both went our separate ways.

Lissa was getting ready for the meal with Christian, so Eddie dropped by my room and said we could walk over to meet them by the car together. Adrian, Alberta and one extra Guardian was coming with us too, although they would be guarding rather than eating with us, which I felt pretty awkward about. Although it was important the Moroi had extra protection seeing as we would be going outside of the wards.

I decided to wear a black skater dress which was fitted around my chest and waist, but flowed out slightly down my hips. I wore sandals which had a slight heel, with a leather jacket over the top. I put light makeup on and tied my hair up in a classy bun on the top of my head to finish the look. I was sat debating whether I should take my stake with me for a while, but eventually decided there was no harm in taking it in case, and slipped it into the inside pocket of my jacket.

It was 6PM when there was a knock at my door; I opened it to see Eddie wearing black jeans and a shirt. 'Ready to go, Rose?' I smiled and nodded at him, locking my door behind me. We were meeting the others at the garages, and found the group standing around a large, sleek, black car. It was more like a minibus really. Lissa looked as beautiful as ever, and Adrian looked as cocky and handsome as ever. Tasha had also dressed up, and I had to admit she looked quite nice. Dimitri, however, never failed to take my breath away. He was wearing black jeans and a black fitted shirt with his typical duster over the top. His hair was tied up at the nape of his neck. Fuck the hair-band holding it back, I wanted to run my fingers through his hair and never stop.

Once we were all there, we piled in to the car together. Alberta was driving with the other guardian in the passenger seat. That other guardian just happened to be Stan Alto, great. Lissa, Christian, Adrian and Tasha were in the middle section of the vehicle. Leaving me stuck in between Eddie and Dimitri. My leg kept brushing against his and it was making me incredibly uncomfortable. Judging by his tense body position, it was doing the same to him. Quite a contrast to Eddie's laid back demeanour.

The journey was tense and uneventful and I couldn't get out of the car fast enough once we arrived. We were seated at a large round table, I was sat between Adrian and Lissa, Tasha was _conveniently_ sitting next to Dimitri. Stan and Alberta were standing by the front and back entrance of the restaurant. I always made sure they were within my eye sight; I couldn't help but notice Dimitri was doing the same. The food was nice and I made pleasant conversation with everyone at the table as much as I could. I also couldn't help but notice the odd looks Dimitri kept giving Adrian and I, it also didn't escape my notice that he kept glancing down to my wrist, where the fang marks had almost completely faded. Adrian found great pleasure in pissing Dimitri off.

I skipped dessert as I didn't want to seem impolite, I already felt bad enough that Tasha was paying for everyone's meal. And truth was I just wasn't that hungry, _crazy_ right? Never known Rose Hathaway to turn down food, especially dessert. This also gave Fire-boy the ammunition to take the piss out of me never refusing food for a solid 5 minutes.

I was feeling quite at ease as we left the restaurant, It hadn't been as terrible as I was expecting. It was then that I suddenly felt nausea roll through my stomach, making me double over in shock. This immediately got Dimitri's attention and he was next to me in a heartbeat. 'What's wrong?' He asked. I heard a twig snap and saw something move in the distance. 'I think there might be Strigoi here.' He looked confused. I didn't blame him. 'Rose, how do you know-'It was then that I saw the red eyes appear far in the distance over Dimitri's shoulder. I didn't hesitate then, I shouted STRIGOI, getting the guardians attention. Forgetting the pain in my stomach, I pulled the stake out of my jacket pocket, the guardians doing the same. 'Form a circle around the Moroi.' Alberta ordered immediately. I don't know if she was including me in her instructions, but I did it anyway. I noticed Eddie doing the same, even though he didn't have a stake. Stan, who was next to him, noticed this too and shoved him behind him. 'Castile, you stand behind me and be second defence for the Moroi.' I was grateful Stan was keeping him out of the fray. The first Stigoi appeared and didn't waste any time, he went straight for Dimitri, who was standing to my left, obviously seeing him as the biggest threat. This Strigoi was clearly young and impatient, we didn't even break ranks when Dimitri took him down.

I counted another 7 as they stalked towards us in a group. I could feel Lissa's worry through the bond, but she was well protected, Christian was holding tightly onto her with a fireball ready in his hand. 2 Strigoi went to each guardian, and the last came for me. She was one of the older ones and was unbelievably fast, she was also a Dhampir in her former life. 'What do we have here? A little Dhampir cub out in the big wide world? Have you ever seen someone like me before?' She was taunting me. 'I've seen plenty of you before, and you won't be the first I kill.' She was a pretty similar height and build to me, so I had a bit of an advantage. I wasn't going to stand around talking, so I lunged for her. She obviously wasn't expecting me to be so bold, so I managed to catch her cheek with my stake, she let out an ear splitting scream. Now I'd really pissed her off.

While she was distracted I took a second to check my surroundings. The Moroi were still safely encircled within us all, and I spotted an additional two Strigoi dead on the floor. We would win this. We continued fighting for what felt like hours, but really must only have been minutes. Someone had pushed their strigoi into mine. I didn't even think, I leapt on top of the second Strigoi and shoved my stake up underneath its ribs and into its heart.

There was only three Strigoi left now, one of which was that bitch who was still set on fighting me. I'd pissed her off even more now. She managed to get a hold on my wrist as I was climbing off the dead Strigoi. She squeezed her hand and I heard the bone in my wrist snap. I held in the scream, it would only distract the others from their fight. 'Now I've got your attention.' She growled at me. She pulled me to my feet by my hair. She pushed me backwards with such force that I was lifted off the ground and landed with a thud on the floor, I felt my head hit against something and the edges of my vision blurred. I felt my stake pressed up against my arm and kept it out of view.

Before I could even think of taking a breath, the Strigoi bitch was on top of me. Her hand was around my throat and I felt her sharp nails drag across the skin of my neck. Her fingers came away bloody. She brought them up to her face and inhaled deeply. I was repulsed. She lowered her face slowly to my neck. She was taking her time, just what I was expecting. I took the chance to look around, and noticed the other guardians taking down the last Strigoi, the Moroi were all still standing.

Her face was right in the crook of my neck now; I felt the edge of her fang brush against my neck. She was right where I wanted her. Before she even knew what happened, I pulled my stake out of my jacket sleeve where I had been hiding it, and rammed it into her chest, piercing her heart. Her body slumped down on top of mine. I breathed for what felt like the first time in hours. 'ROSE' I heard Lissa scream. The battle must be over. 'Roza!' I heard my Dimitri shout.

I used the last of my strength to push the corpse off me and sat up. My head was spinning. Dimitri was by my side in an instant, Alberta close behind him. I put my good hand up to my head; it came away wet with blood. 'Is everyone ok?' I asked, it came out as barely a whisper. 'Everyone is fine Rose, are you ok? Where are you hurt?' Dimitri asked, concern laced his words. He had a cut over his eye. I raised my hand and tentatively stroked his forehead. 'It's nothing. Tell me where you are hurt. Everyone else is fine and backup is on the way Rose, let me help you.' I nodded at him, but I couldn't seem to keep my eyes open. 'Rose, stay awake, don't shut those eyes.' I smiled, I didn't want him to worry about me. I felt myself being picked up and carried somewhere. The last thing I remember was Dimitri's voice in my ear pleading me not to leave him.

 **There's chapter 14! I was planning on having a Romitri kiss scene at the end, but I thought there was enough drama already for one chapter, so you'll have to wait for the next one! I've been looking forward to writing a chapter with a Strigoi fight, I just hope I did ok, once again thank you so much for reading and all your support, I hope you enjoyed it!**


	15. Chapter 15

For a while, I was stuck in an odd place somewhere between unconsciousness and sleep. I was pulled into Lissa's head on several occasions; I could tell at least a day had passed since I'd passed out. The Moroi were all fine after the attack, as was Eddie. Alberta and Dimitri had a few scratches, but Stan ended up with a badly broken leg, which Lissa would no doubt heal for him sooner or later. I could tell that Lissa had healed my arm; I could feel it through the bond as she did it. She hadn't tried to heal my head yet though, which I assume is the main problem, that's why I haven't woken up yet.

After a long, dark period of nothingness, I was seeing through Lissa's eyes once more. She was asleep, dreaming. What I was seeing shocked me to my core. It was me, that night. I was fighting the Strigoi. We all were. She was reliving the fight outside the restaurant. Her eyes were on me practically the whole time; I could feel her worry for me pulsating through her. I had just killed that first Strigoi, I have to admit, I looked pretty badass. That's where I had gone wrong though, taking that one down meant that I had turned my back on that other blood-eyed bitch. And she grabbed me while she could. I took a pretty good beating after that.

It was as if time stood still after she'd thrown me to the ground and pinned me down on the floor. Dimitri had just finished off the last Strigoi, so his attention was turned to me too. The heartbreak that crept into Lissa was painful to experience as she saw the Strigoi bring her fangs down to my neck. I saw Dimitri falter for just a second before he was running straight towards me, long enough for me to see the fear in his eyes. He was shouting my name along with Lissa. She saw me sit up then as I pushed the Strigoi corpse off me, and a feeling of relief rushed through her worry-filled bones.

I snapped my eyes open then, I was in my own body again, in the infirmary. It ached and I could feel the bruises forming still, but I was in my own body and everyone I love is ok, that's all that mattered. The first thing I noticed was a large, warm hand, gently holding mine. I looked to my left to see Dimitri, he was sitting in the chair next to the hospital bed, his head was resting on our joined hands. He was clearly asleep. His hair was down, and stubble had started to appear on his chin, had he been here the whole time?

I knew he must have been worried about me. But I selfishly took a few minutes just to study his face. He looked so peaceful while he was sleeping, as if all the weight off his shoulders had been lifted. It had been so long since I could just feel at peace around him; there was always something in the way, or something to worry about. I should be worried about everything else. But he's here and he's ok. My hand was still held firmly beneath his hand, but I couldn't help myself, I had to touch him. I could have lost him. I took my other hand and gently ran my fingers through his hair. I avoided the cut above his eyebrow, not wanting to hurt him. He leaned into my touch, but didn't wake up. He must have finally realised I was awake, as his eyes snapped open and he lifted his head to face me fully. I smiled at him; I wanted him to know I was ok.

'Roza?' He whispered, almost in disbelief. I nodded at him, 'Come here.' I croaked out, I needed him to be closer to me. He sat on the edge of the bed facing me. That wasn't close enough. I wrapped my arms around his waist a clung to him for dear life. My head fit perfectly under his chin. I could hear his heartbeat. 'I missed you.' I whispered quietly. I didn't want things to get awkward with him again. I felt him wrap his arms around me even tighter, holding me against him. He pressed a kiss to my forehead, whispering in reply, 'I've been so worried about you Roza.' His voice was husky from sleeping. I pulled my head back and looked him in the eye. I could get lost in those eyes if I let myself. He raised his hand and stroked my cheek with his thumb until it brushed my bottom lip.

I tilted my face upwards so our lips were just inches apart. When there was a knock at the door, and it opened straight after. He had just dropped his hand from my face when Alberta cleared her throat, and shut the door firmly behind her.

Dimitri stood immediately at her presence, more as a sign of respect than anything else. Always the gentleman. She rolled her eyes at him. 'For goodness sake Dimitri do sit down, you look like you're about to collapse as it is.' He nodded and sat down on the chair beside my bed. I leant back against the headboard as he did so. 'Rose, I'm glad you're awake. I'd say I'd go and get the nurse, although I assume that's not immediately necessary otherwise Belikov would have done so by now.' I was about to tell her I was fine and getting the nurse wasn't necessary, but she continued anyway, she was a zero bullshit kind of woman, and didn't waste any time. 'Good. Now, I've had an inkling that something has been going on between the two of you for some time now. And don't you dare deny it. The fact that Dimitri has barely left this room in two days proves it even more so than what I almost just walked in on. Now the truth is that I should probably go straight to Headmistress Kirova with the information, but I have reason to believe that would do more harm than good. I have known you both before you met the other, and in all honestly I've never seen anything like the two of you. You've bettered each other in ways I didn't think were possible. Dimitri barely spoke before you came back Rose, now I've seen him laugh and smile too many times to count. And you have come such a long way since he's been training you Rose, you're already a better Guardian than most I know.' I wasn't expecting that, not at all. Before either of us had a chance to say anything, she continued.

'So here's how it's going to be. I won't mention this to anyone unless you give me any reason to think this is no longer beneficial to the both of you. You make each other better, I see no reason to end that. Dimitri, now that you know she's ok. Please go and get cleaned up and have something to eat. I'll let the Doctors know she's awake, and the Princess will be told first thing in the morning.' He gave me a lasting look and thanked Alberta, as well as giving her a polite nod as he left the room. I missed his presence already.

'Thank you, Alberta. Things are weird at the minute, but I promise you I know how serious this is.' She smiled at me. She'd always been like a mother figure to me, and times like this it really showed. 'Please Rose, you've grown so much since you've been back. And I know I have Dimitri to thank for that. And you might not believe it, but he's grown too, he's a completely different man to when he first arrived here. And I know you both know how serious this is. And I can trust you both to be sensible and do the right thing until you graduate. Now, I'll go and fetch the Doctor so they can see how you're doing.'

I thanked her again before she left. The Doctor came in shortly after and said she'd like to keep me in for another 12 hours just for observations, but that I had no lasting head trauma, we just had to wait until all the drugs wore off and I'd be good to get back to classes again, although she did advise I miss physical training for a few more days. Which in all honesty was fine with me, I could do with the rest.

 **There we have Chapter 15! I really hope you all enjoyed it and it wasn't too dull or anything. Thanks again for all your favourites, follows and reviews; I appreciate every one of them! Thanks again for reading, I hope you enjoyed.**


	16. Chapter 16

I was discharged from the Infirmary after the Doctor had given me the all clear. She said my arm was fully healed, but I had a lot of bruising especially to my head. So I had to have the next day off classes and miss at least a few days of training. I checked the bond as I was getting dressed out of the hospital gown; Lissa was getting ready for classes now. I wanted to see her but I didn't want to make her late for classes or anything, so I promised myself I'd see her later.

I assumed Dimitri would either be Guarding or sleeping, both of which were things I shouldn't stop him from doing. So after signing the discharge papers, I made my way out of the infirmary and walked back to my room.

I stripped and got straight into the shower when I got back to my room. It's strange, it felt like so much time had passed and so much had changed since I'd last been here, but it had only been a few days. I spent longer than normal in the shower. I was covered in blood and dirt after the fight; they'd washed most of it off in the infirmary, but not all of it. And it took the water going down the drain some time before it ran clear again. After scrubbing my skin raw and washing my hair twice, I finally deemed myself clean enough to go back to normal.

Although killing these Strigoi wasn't quite as traumatic as my first kills, it still held a lot of meaning to me. I was grateful everyone was fine, but I'd still taken two lives. I know I was kind of putting them out of their misery, but they were people just like me once upon a time. I suppose I'd better get used to the feeling if I was going to be Guarding Lissa. It's not guilt exactly; just that I wish it didn't have to be this way.

I had just stepped out of my bathroom with my towel wrapped around me when the door to my bedroom opened. I held the towel to my body and turned to see whoever had forced their way in.

Dimitri stood in the doorway; he'd just closed the door behind him and turned to look at me. I heard him swear in Russian, I wasn't sure what he said, but I had come to recognise which were swear words and which were not.

I saw him clench his jaw and his hands balled into fists by his side. 'Dimitri, how the hell did you get in here?!' I shrieked at him, he'd surprised me. He cleared his throat and tried to avoid looking at me. 'I went to the infirmary to walk you back to your room when I heard you'd been discharged, but you had already left. Then I came straight here but you weren't answering the door. I thought you might have been hurt or something, so I used my spare key. I'm sorry I scared you, and I wasn't there to walk you back.' He looked embarrassed.

I smiled at him, but pulled my towel tighter around me. 'It's ok; I kind of enjoyed the walk. I needed to have a long shower anyway, it took a while to wash blood and dirt and stuff off...' He flinched when I said the word blood. He took a step closer to me, but obviously thought he'd better not come any closer. 'Rose, I wasn't going to say anything, but you have no idea how scared I was back there. When I saw that Strigoi with her face by your neck and I was too far away to reach you, I'd never felt anything like it.' I looked away, I felt bad for scaring him. 'Then I saw you push her body off you, and I'd never been more proud in my life, I didn't want to leave your side. I've always known you can take care of yourself, but you just proved it to me even more so back there.'

What he said made a blush rise up into my cheeks; all I ever wanted was Dimitri's approval. 'I made you proud?' I asked in a small voice. 'Roza, I'm always proud of you.' That got a genuine smile out of me, which he returned, much to my delight.

'I also came here to tell you something.' That got my attention. 'Tasha left the morning after the attack. She said goodbye to Christian and just left without a word to anyone else.' I rolled my eyes at that. 'I know what you're thinking, but something's not right. It's odd that she wouldn't say anything to me before she left. At first I thought she might have just been shaken up from the attack, and annoyed at me for turning down her offer to be her Guardian again. But she wasn't even fazed during the attack, I know fear when I see it, and all the Moroi and even Eddie looked scared but she didn't. And the Strigoi were all eyeing up the Moroi like they were a meal, but not one even glanced at her. It's probably nothing, but it seemed odd.'

I nodded along with what he was saying; it was bizarre that she wouldn't be even a little bit shaken up after a fight like that. And it's also unusual that the Strigoi wouldn't be interested in her Moroi blood at all.

He continued before I could ponder the situation further. 'We can think about that more later, but I also came to tell you that the Molnija ceremony is tonight, in the Guardian building, same as last time.' I looked away from him then, I forgotten I'd even have to have a ceremony for the kills. At least Dimitri would be by my side this time.

I looked up at him again then, taking a small step closer. 'Are you ok Dimitri? I know killing them must have been hard on you too.' He looked down at me with an odd look in his eyes, something like awe. 'How do you always know what I'm feeling?' He said quietly, it was almost a whisper. I smiled up at him again, I didn't know how I knew what he was feeling, I could always just tell.

'I remember you mentioning that it's not guilt, you just wish it didn't have to be the way it is. I was thinking the same thing earlier.' He took a step closer to me; he was still giving me a heated look which was making me want to be closer to him. He ran his hand up my bare arm and rested it in the crook of my neck, his fingers slid into my hair. I took the final step closer to him and rested my forehead on his chest, inhaling deeply. If I weren't holding my towel securely around my body, I would have wrapped my arms around him by now.

A shiver ran through my body, both from the feel of his hand against me and from the cold. My hair was dripping wet and I was practically naked. He felt me shiver, and for whatever reason he thought it was for, he slowly took his hand away from me. 'I should let you rest; I'll come by and walk you over to the ceremony tonight.' I nodded against him. He was saying the words but he made no move to leave. We stood like that for a few minutes longer, until he reluctantly pulled himself away from me.

'I'll see you later, Roza. Sleep well.' I gave him a small smile. 'Thank you, Dimitri.'

I breathed a sigh of relief when the door shut behind him. Being so close to him was doing all kinds of things to my body and mind. We hadn't spoken about what we are now. But neither of us had denied anything when Alberta had given her speech to the two of us.

Now I just had to get through the Molnija ceremony. I was proud to be marked with the tattoos, they represented the fact that I had done it to protect the people I love. I just didn't like the thought of having it done with the majority of the Guardians at the Academy staring at me the whole time.

I put my pyjamas on and slipped into bed. Setting an alarm for an hour before Dimitri was collecting me later so I would be up and ready on time.

 **There we have Chapter 16! Sorry it's not quite as long, I was originally planning on including the Molnija ceremony in this chapter, but I thought it would be good to hold off for another chapter as this one was already quite bulky! Thanks again for reading, I really hope you enjoyed it.**


	17. Chapter 17

I ended up sleeping all day, right until my alarm went off. I had _another_ shower before getting dressed. I just wanted to make sure that every trace of the fight had left my body. And after the two Molnija marks have been added to my neck, I will try and move on from what happened.

Although Molnija ceremonies aren't exactly formal affairs, they represent a lot to Guardians. I dressed in black slacks, with one of my nicer tops. I tied my hair up in a bun on the top of my head, so the tattooist would be able to access the back of my neck more easily. I looked at myself in the mirror. I still had the odd cut and bruise that Lissa was unable to heal. I also had dark circles under my eyes, but nothing could heal them so easily. I put some light makeup on to try and make myself look less worn out, although I wasn't as worried about my appearance as I would be if Moroi were attending the ceremony. The Molnija ceremonies are strictly Guardian only, and I felt better knowing no one would really judge me on what I looked like, they all understood what it means to kill another.

Even Eddie wasn't invited to the ceremony, which I felt odd about. I understand that he's not officially a Guardian, but neither am I. Although I am glad that he hasn't had his first kill yet. Ever since we lost Mason I've felt a strong need to protect Eddie, and I know he feels the same way about me.

A light knock on my door brought me out of my deep thoughts. I opened the door to see Dimitri standing there. He was also wearing black trousers, but with a white shirt, and of course his typical duster. His hair was tied at the nape of his neck like usual. 'You look beautiful.' He said, quietly. I didn't feel beautiful. 'Ready to go?' He asked. I nodded at him as he stepped aside for me to leave my room. I locked the door behind me and we made our way outside.

It was still warm outside as we made our way over to the Guardian building. The ceremony was being held in the same room as the last one I attended. Although I wasn't really with it last time. I was hardly in the right frame of mind to notice the colour of the carpet. The room was dull. Grey carpet and neutral coloured walls. No decorations, just tables and chairs. There was, however a small stage set up so everyone could see us getting our marks. It seemed Dimitri and I were some of the last to arrive. I noticed a buffet set out on a few of the tables around the edge of the room, and my stomach made a loud noise which got Dimitri's attention. It occurred to me then that I hadn't eaten a proper meal in at least a few days. 'I promise I'll get you something to eat later, but the ceremony is about to begin.' He said, leading us over to two spare chairs.

The chairs were lined out facing the small stage so people could sit to watch us be marked, but some Guardians chose to stand around the edge of the room instead. The room was packed with Guardians, all people who I had a great deal of respect for, none of whom even knew me, I was just another novice.

I had too much on my mind to consider any of this the first time I was here. I wasn't one of them yet, what do they see me as? My leg started bouncing up and down as all my anxieties hit me at once. Dimitri noticed this as he was sat right next to me. He rested his hand on my leg, stopping it immediately. It would have seemed friendly or reassuring to anyone else. But the gentle squeeze he gave me told me it was more than that. He knew I was worried, he was there for me.

Alberta stepped onto the stage, receiving the attention of everyone in the room as soon as she stepped up. She didn't have to tell anyone to be quiet like she may have had to if she was giving a speech to the students. It was natural here. She gave a professional overview of the events that took place outside the restaurant, almost like reading a report. 'On Friday night, myself, and Guardians Alto and Belikov, were off campus with 4 Moroi and 2 Novices, one being Novice Hathaway. We were leaving a restaurant when a Strigoi approached us; Novice Hathaway had warned us that she thought there were Strigoi in the area seconds before he appeared. Guardian Belikov disposed of him quickly. A larger group Strigoi then approached us. Guardian Belikov killed an additional two Strigoi, as did I. Guardian Alto killed one, and Novice Hathaway killed two. And so you have been invited here to show your respect for us, as we receive our Molnija marks.'

No one clapped after her speech, the occasion was too solemn. Instead, every Guardian in the room bowed their head, including Alberta and myself. Alberta sat on the chair on the stage, and didn't even flinch as the marks were tattooed permanently onto her skin. She left the stage and Dimitri got up next, stepping onto the stage. He sat down and received his marks; I couldn't take my eyes off him. He gave me a reassuring look as the needle touched his skin.

As Dimitri left the stage, Stan stood up from his seat a row in front of me and joined the tattooist on stage. He was heavily limping but did not have crutches. Lissa must have healed the broken bone. He also barely flinched as the needle pierced his skin. He left the stage and then it must have been my turn. No one had to call my name; I was the only one left.

I couldn't look at Dimitri as I walked past him; I feared I might not be able to go up there if I could see the look in his eyes. I swallowed the knot that was forming in my throat. I had done this before, I could do it again.

I knew receiving the marks would hurt, just as it did last time. But I clenched my teeth and ignored the pain, if this is all I received for killing someone, then I would take it happily. I looked up to see Dimitri staring right back at me from his seat. His eyes held so many emotions, all out in the open for me to read freely, like an open book.

I thanked the tattooist after he put a bandage over my two new Molnija marks. And made my way down the steps. Stan Alto met me at the bottom. 'Hathawa- Rose.' He corrected himself. 'I wanted to thank you for stepping in and killing that Strigoi for me, it had just broken my leg, and he'd have taken me down easily if not for you.' I know it must have taken a lot for Stan to admit that I had helped him. He held out his hand for me to shake, which I did. 'Thank you, Guardian Alto.' I saw a small smile creep onto his face as he realised that was probably one of the only times I'd called him by his professional name.

Alberta approached me then, and hugged me. She actually hugged me. I returned the gesture without an ounce of hesitation. 'I'm so proud of you Rose, you've come further than I had ever hoped.' I thanked her as she dropped her arms from around my shoulders, her words meant a lot to me. A few other Guardians I recognised approached me and gave me a few empathetic words. No one congratulated me, only gave me soothing words of understanding and sympathy.

My eyes skimmed over the faces in the room until they landed on Dimitri. He was speaking to another Guardian, but his eyes were already on me. I saw him excuse himself from the conversation and made his way over to me. There was no hiding the pride in his eyes as he approached me. He gave me a short hug which could only be passed as friendly. 'You did great, Rose.' He whispered when his lips were close enough to my ear.

Most people were beginning to leave now, Guardians didn't get a lot of free time around here, and the ones that came would have been off duty. I didn't blame them for leaving so soon. I wanted to. I stifled a yawn, but nothing escapes Dimitri's notice. 'You must be tired. Why don't I walk you back to your room?' I argued that he didn't have to do that, and that he should rest too, but he insisted. I put my empty plate down on a table; I had managed to get a few things to eat while I was making forced conversation with people. Dimitri and I said goodbye to the few Guardians that were left.

I unlocked my bedroom door and he opened it for me, letting me step inside first. I was pleasantly surprised to see that he stepped in after me. 'I'm so proud of you Rose, I always knew you had what it takes to be an incredible Guardian.' I smiled at him, but he'd made me think. 'Only because you trained me.' I said. 'No, Rose. You've always had it in you, I saw it the first time we met, I just helped you along the way.'

Who knows where I'd be without Dimitri. I probably wouldn't have even been allowed back into the Academy if he hadn't offered to train me. I knew that no words I could ever say would convey how much he means to me. So I settled for wrapping my arms around his neck and hugging him close to me. 'Get some rest, Roza. You have classes tomorrow. And I'll see you in a few days for training again.'

I untangled my arms from him, and he did the same. 'Thank you, Dimitri. For everything.' He smiled at me before closing the door behind him.

 **There we have Chapter 17! It's a bit longer again, so I'm really sorry if it was a bit boring. I just really wanted to capture the significance of the other Guardians to Rose, and how much she actually wants to be one of them. Thanks again so much for reading and all your reviews, please feel free to give me any suggestions or improvements on what you'd like to see next. Thanks again!**


	18. Chapter 18

The following week passed uneventfully. Which was surprising, there always seemed to be some drama following me around wherever I went. Dimitri and I were back to training as usual. He took it easy on me for the first few days; he was still worried about me hurting myself or something; however we were back to training like normal now.

I was making my way over to the gym now, it's Saturday morning, and so I had no classes today, just a day of training with Dimitri. I was a little surprised to say the least when I walked in and saw another Guardian in the middle of the gym waiting for me. I recognised him from around the academy, and he introduced himself as Guardian Murphy. I expect he already knew who I was, but politely introduced myself anyway.

I had just asked why Dimitri wasn't here when I heard the quietest creak of a door opening behind me. That mixed with the rush of air to my left made me duck my head and turn to see Dimitri had just thrown a punch at my head, which I had only just managed to dodge. He went for another two punches, one to my arm and one to my torso, I managed to block both. I had forgotten about the other Guardian until I saw him creep towards me out of my peripheral view. He grabbed my shoulder with his arm, which I then took a hold of and threw him off me, using my body to gain more power.

I see what they're doing. Seeing how I do with two against one. I was certain I'd lose, but I wasn't going down without a fight. Guardian Murphy clearly hadn't expected me to throw him to the floor so soon, that's probably the only reason I'd been able to gain the upper hand on him. I was just about to stab his heart with a fake stake, when I was practically thrown off him by Dimitri. That made things interesting. The adrenaline was rushing through my veins now.

We were fighting for some time, I was on the defence for the majority of the time, the two of them just kept throwing punches for me to block. I noticed myself being backed into a corner of the gym. That is exactly what I wanted to avoid. Once I was close enough in the corner, Guardian Murphy opened both of his arms, going to grab me around the shoulders to take me down. I took one step closer to him, stepping right into his open arms, and then dropped out of his embrace as soon as his arms were about to tighten around me. That half second of shock was all I needed to shove my practice stake onto his chest, right above where his heart was.

He fell to the floor, pretending to be dead, but I saw the smile on his face. Now it was just me and Dimitri. We continued fighting; I was throwing more punches now I didn't have to worry about fighting two of them. And although Dimitri was still going strong, I could see him tiring, just as I was. I could feel my hair loosening from its ponytail with every step I took, and so I growled in frustration when it came loose from the hair band completely. Dimitri also noticed this, and when he had the chance, he grabbed my hair and held me in place.

I could tell he was trying not to hurt me, and his hold on my hair was gentle, but still represented the unpleasant situation it would put me in if he were a real Strigoi. He lent closer to me then, about to mock bite me, efficiently killing me in our little fake battle. When I brought me knee up and dug it into his stomach as hard as I could. I heard the air leave his lungs as I winded him completely, as his grip on my hair faltered. I twisted out of his grip, and while he was still trying to catch his breath, I placed my practice stake right over where his heart is. I had won.

I don't think Dimitri even tried holding back the smile that spread across his face. I was practically beaming too. I was taking deep breaths, trying to get my breath back, as was Dimitri. I heard clapping coming from the other side of the gym and saw Guardian Murphy approaching us, looking amused.

'Well done Hathaway. When Belikov told me he wanted me to help him do a surprise attack on a novice, I was apprehensive to say the least. Thought it'd be easy, you proved me wrong.'

Dimitri finally stood up straight then, and went to shake the Guardians hand. 'Thanks again, Andy.'

'No problem, I'd better be going now, my shift starts in 10 minutes.' He turned to me and shook my hand too. 'Nice to officially meet you too Rose, you'll be one hell of a Guardian one day. And sorry for, you know, trying to attack you and everything.' I returned the gesture and watched as he left. I then turned my attention to Dimitri. 'I wasn't expecting that on a Saturday morning, Comrade.'

'That's exactly why I did it. In real situations like this, you won't have time to warm up, and you'll most likely be completely caught off guard. I realised we hadn't done much training with you against more than just me. And after the attack outside the restaurant, I realised how important it is that you practice being outnumbered, and caught by surprise. And of course I underestimated you, you killed us both.' Although he was in mentor mode, there was pride shining in his eyes that he couldn't hide from me.

We stopped for a few minutes to have a drink of water and for Dimitri to finish getting his breath back. I did feel bad for kneeing him so hard. 'You really weren't holding back with that kick were you?' Although his words sounded serious, I could see the smile forming on his face. 'I think you'd be more annoyed with me if I did hold back.' I replied. He looked like he was thinking about his reply for a while. 'That's true; I'll have to recruit even more guardians for you to take down next time.'

We spent the rest of the day training like usual. We ran laps as well as practising more with our real stakes. It was just before 5pm when we had finished for the day. That was one of the best training sessions I'd had. Dimitri taught me new techniques on how to take down more than one opponent at once, and also how to deal with being taken by surprise. I took in everything he said, knowing how important this will all be one day. After saying goodbye, I made my way to my room for a quick shower and to get changed before tea. Then I'd be off to bed and ready for training again in the morning.

However when I got to my room, the door was already unlocked. I must have forgotten to lock it or something. I opened the door and was met by a face I really did not want to see. 'Hello Rose.' Was all that was said before something hard and cold hit me in the side of the head. Knocking me fully off my feet. Black spots danced at the edges of my vision, I tried getting up, and I tried fighting. But before I could even move, I was hit on the head again. This time though, my eyes didn't open again, and I was lost in the darkness.

 **There we have Chapter 18! Sorry I haven't updated in a few days, I had another hectic weekend and didn't have much time to write. I really hoped you enjoyed this chapter. Thank you to everyone who has reviewed, favourited and followed my story, I appreciate every one! Thanks again for reading.**


	19. Chapter 19

I opened my eyes and I was in a room surrounded by the people I love. Why was Headmistress Kirova there? And why wasn't Lissa there? Oh, wait. I _am_ Lissa. I thought for a second I might have dreamt being attacked in my room. And by the look on everyone's face, it wasn't a dream at all. They all looked incredibly worried. Kirova was the first to speak since I had arrived in Lissa's head. 'So when did you last see Rose, Guardian Belikov?'

Dimitri looked terrible, the worry evident on his face made me want to reach out to him. 'At training yesterday, I was with her all day. She was doing so well. She left to get changed before tea, and I said I'd see her in the morning. But she didn't turn up for practice, she's normally late but she would never just not turn up. Then I went to ask the Princess if she'd seen her, and she said she wasn't at dinner last night. So I went to Rose's room and she wasn't there. I called Guardian Petrov to her room when I noticed something was amiss. And that's when we saw...' He didn't continue.

'Saw what?' Kirova asked, impatiently. Alberta spoke up then. 'Her room was a mess. The lamp from her desk was on the floor, and broken. It was covered in blood. There was also blood on the floor.'

Lissa began to sob then. Christian put a reassuring arm around her. Stupid one-way bond. Why can't I talk to her? Why can't I tell her I'm ok? At least, I _think_ I'm ok. 'We've got Guardians inspecting her room for more information now, but does anyone know where Rose might be? Who might have hurt her?' Alberta asked everyone in the room.

Lissa spoke up then. 'Rose would never leave on her own.' Kirova looked like she was doubting that, but Dimitri came to my defence too. 'The Princess is right. Rose would never leave on her own, if she thought she might be in danger, she'd take the Princess with her, to protect her.'

Everyone seemed to agree with that, which I was grateful for. Adrian had been oddly quiet up until now. 'I've tried visiting her dreams, but I can't reach her. I promise I'll keep trying, I won't stop until I've seen she's ok.'

A sharp pain to the left side of my face brought me back to myself. My hands and feet were tied to the chair I was sitting on. The ache in my neck told me I'd been sitting here for some time now. I opened my eyes to see none other than Natasha Ozera standing in front of me with a rather smug smile on her scarred face. She was surrounded by at least 6 Strigoi, all looking at me like they wanted to kill me. Not that I'm surprised.

I was in a cold, dark room, with stone walls and floors. There were no windows, and only one door, which was closed.

'Finally, you're awake.' Tasha said with a sneer.

I rolled my eyes. I wasn't about to let the Hathaway attitude slip now. 'Do forgive me. I'd have woken up sooner if I'd realised I was keeping you waiting.'

'Sarcastic Bitch.' One of the Strigoi spat at me. He wasted no time in charging at me. He jumped right on top of me, knocking my chair backwards, taking me with it. His hand was around my throat, and tightening with every breath I took. I couldn't breathe.

Tasha clapped her hands together, calling for attention, apparently. 'Enough Dolton. We need her alive for what we have planned.' The Strigoi, Dolton, turned his head towards her and bared his teeth. 'I don't give a shit if you need her alive. She killed my sister.' I did?

Tasha laughed at that, clearly not caring. 'Then your sister was stupid enough to have been killed by this child.' That seemed to piss him off more.

'Or perhaps you were stupid enough to plan that attack on them outside the restaurant in the first place. You must have known we couldn't take her when those other Guardians were there.' Of course Tasha had planned the attack, why else had none of the Strigoi even glanced in her direction? I had killed this bastard's sister.

They were having their little chit chat while his disgusting hands were still crushing my windpipe. He turned his cold stare back to me. 'You will pay.' He brought his face down to my neck, and pierced his fangs into the flesh of my neck. I cried out in pain, until the rush of his venom leaked into my blood, making all the pain go away.

'Enough!' I heard Tasha shriek. It sounded like I was underwater, I could barely hear anything. I felt the heat before I saw the Strigoi who was drinking my blood go up in flames. The burnt corpse was pulled off me, and my chair was placed upright, facing Tasha once more.

'I do apologise about that Rose, but I really need you alive for you to be useful for me.' I could barely keep my head upright. 'Maybe you should keep your pets on a leash then, Scar Face.'

Looks like I'd pissed her off just as much as that Strigoi had. Good. 'You're no use to me when you're drugged up like that. Blood Whore. I'll be back later to tell you where you are, and then we can put my plan into action. Eva, check her restraints are still tight enough to hold her in place.' With that she left the room, all the Strigoi leaving with her. Why did she want me to know where I am?

A young girl remained in the room; I hadn't even noticed her before. This must be Eva. She was a Dhampir, younger than me, perhaps 14. How did she get herself into this? I saw the bite marks on her neck and wrists. She must be their own personal blood bag. She had dark skin and bags under her eyes. I expect she'd be beautiful if she wasn't here.

She slowly approached me, and pulled at the restraints around my ankles, checking they hadn't loosened in my little mishap with the Strigoi. 'I'm Rose.' I said. She glanced up at me, almost surprised I spoke at all. 'I know.' Was all she said back, her voice was barely a whisper. She then checked the restraints around my wrists and headed for the door. She looked back at me before she opened the door, almost as if she wanted to say something, but thought better of it. She did look guilty though, she shouldn't feel guilty, but I hope she comes back.

I could feel the warm dampness of my blood dripping out of my neck and onto my shirt. I closed my eyes and felt myself drifting off into an endless sea of nothing but darkness.

After what felt like years if nothing but dreamless sleep. I felt sand between my toes and sun shining down on my face. I looked and saw Adrian in shorts and a Hawaiian shirt. 'Adrian!' I sprinted towards him and threw my arms around him. It was unbelievably good to see a friendly face. 'Little Dhampir, I'm not sure how much time we have. You have to tell me where you are.' His eyes glanced down to my neck; I looked down and saw that despite wearing a summer dress that Adrian must have chosen for me, I was still covered in bruises and blood. My neck and head were throbbing.

I avoided his alarmed stare and described the place as best as I could. 'I haven't seen anything except the room I'm being kept it. It's Tasha, Adrian. Tasha knocked me out in my room; I passed out and woke up in a cold room with her and Strigoi all around me. She has a plan for me; she needs me alive for something.' He pulled me into another fierce hug. 'You're waking up Rose, I have to go. I promise we'll find you. Find out as much as you can about where we are, and I'll visit you next time you're asleep, I promise we won't give up.' He wiped a tear from my cheek as he disappeared, taking the beach and all hope that I had with him.

 **There we have Chapter 19! Things are getting a bit more interesting now. But what could Tasha possibly want with Rose? I guess we'll have to wait for the next chapter to see! Thanks again to everyone who has reviewed, followed and favourited my story. And thank you so much for reading and sticking with me!**


	20. Chapter 20

I'm not entirely sure how long I had been held captive in this room for. I spent most of my time in Lissa's head. It made me feel better, knowing that they are all safe. The next time I visited Lissa's head. Adrian had gathered everyone together and was telling them he had managed to visit me in my dreams. It has always kind of freaked me out that he could talk to me in my dreams, but it's times like this when I'm grateful that he can, they might not even know I was alive if he couldn't.

The fear and worry Lissa was feeling was practically vibrating through the bond. Once everyone was together, Adrian started speaking. 'I managed to speak to Rose last night, not for long, but I saw her.' I saw everyone breathe a collective sigh of relief. 'Where is she? Is she alright?' Dimitri asked without hesitating.

'She's... Ok. She had been fed on, she was covered in blood. She looked like she'd been beaten a few times too. She didn't know where she was, but she said she'd try and find out. She knows who took her. It's Tasha. Tasha came into her room, knocked her out, and took her. She didn't say why, but she did say that she wants her alive for something.' Once Adrian finished talking, it was silent for a moment as everyone took in his words.

Dimitri stood up then. 'Guardian Petrov, may I speak to you in private for a moment?' She nodded, not looking at all surprised, and they left the room together.

Christian's fist was clenched by his side. 'Why would Aunt Tasha do that to Rose? You're sure she said it was her?' He asked Adrian.

'Why would she lie? I knew Tasha had it out for Rose, I just didn't realise she'd do this.' He said with a small frown forming on his face.

'Why did Tasha have it out for Rose? And why are you the only one that knows this?' Christian was beginning to raise his voice.

Adrian kept his voice level, probably trying to diffuse any tension. 'I can see aura's man. I can see how people are feeling. And I'm not the only one that knows. Why do you think Belikov is talking to Petrov on his own?'

Dimitri wasn't there when Alberta came back into the room. 'Mr. Ivashkov, will you keep trying to contact Rose please? We have to find out where she is.' When Adrian nodded and said 'Of course.' She thanked him and left the room.

I returned back to my own head just in time. The door open and Tasha walked in, she had two Strigoi with her today, and Eva trailed in after them too.

The scar-faced bitch just stood in front of me with her arms crossed over her chest, almost like she was waiting for me to say something. I didn't say anything, only stared right back at her.

'I bet you're wondering where you are, Rose. You are in a house at the bottom of Gold Creek Mountain. It's the only house in this area for a few miles, actually. And only an hour or so from your beloved Academy, as a matter of fact. Now, I bet you are wondering why I'm telling you where you are? No doubt you'll find a way to alert your friends of your location. Well that's exactly what I want you to do.' Why the fuck would she want me to tell my friends where I am? Then someone will come and help me get out.

'I know you, Rose. I know you can't keep your dirty mouth shut. So when you do find a way to talk to your friends, you'll tell them exactly where you are. And then Dimka, being the hero that he is, will come to your rescue. I will let you go, in return for him staying with me forever.'

She's utterly crazy. She's actually mental. 'You think I'm going to tell them where I am now? I'd rather stay here as your prisoner than let you do that to him.'

She laughed at me and rolled her eyes. 'If you don't tell them where you are and if he doesn't come. Then I'll simply turn you into a Strigoi. That way he will never love you again, and you won't stand in my way. I could even make you bring him to me once you've been turned.'

I was laughing at her now. 'Do you really think that turning me Strigoi will magically make Dimitri love you? Dimitri wasn't interested in you before he even met me.'

She smiled. A horrible, dangerous smile. 'I know Dimka will never love me, even if you're dead. I don't need him to love me to be with me. I just need to lure him here, using you. And compulsion will do the rest for me.'

'You're absolutely crazy. I always knew you were a bit mental, but you have exceeded my expectations. Congratulations.' If she was going to use me for her crazy plans, then I may as well try and have some fun while I'm at it, and pissing her off is actually quite fun.

She walked over to me then. 'Stupid girl. You have no idea what love is. You're just playing with Dimka's heart like the little slut you are. Well I won't let you.' She put one of her hands on each of my arms. She dug her nails into my skin. I felt her hands heat up. My skin started to burn. She was burning me. I would not show fear or pain. I gritted my teeth and stared up at her. I could smell the burning flesh of my arms. She pulled away after what felt like years. The pain was pulsing from my arms all over my body.

'Go to sleep then if you aren't going to be any fun.' She clicked her fingers and one of the Strigoi that came in with her was beside me faster than a heartbeat, and punched me solidly in the side of the head. Knocking me out cold. The last thing I saw was Eva's anxious eyes gazing at me from the corner of the room.

I felt nothing for an endless amount of time. Then I felt the familiar feeling of being pulled into one of Adrian's spirit dreams.

We were in a forest this time. The dead leaves beneath my bare feet were strangely soft. After embracing me in a hug again, he ran his eyes over my body, checking for more injuries. Which of course he found plenty of. Hand print shaped burns were singed into my arms.

'Where are you Rose?' He pleaded with me. I thought about my answer for some time. 'I'm in the mountains.' Was all I said.

He looked confused. 'There are hundreds of mountains around here, Rose. Where in the mountains are you?' I felt the tears forming in the corner of my eyes. Was it even possible to lie in a spirit dream? 'Don't lie to me Rose. Remember I can see your aura.'

'I can't tell you where I am, Adrian. She's using me to lure Dimitri to her. She'll use compulsion to keep him with her forever. I can't let that happen. I'll find a way to get out on my own, I promise. He can't come here. No one can come here. Promise me he won't come. Promise me Adrian, please.'

He looked like he was considering his answer for a while before quietly saying. 'I promise.' I couldn't tell if he was lying or not, I'd just have to hope and pray that they wouldn't come after me.

Now I had to focus all my energy on getting out of here alive. I hadn't eaten since I'd been here, at least a few days. I had no idea what sort of building I was in, and how heavily guarded it was, nor did I have a weapon. It'll be a piece of cake.

 **So there we have Chapter 20! I can't believe I've made it this far. Thank you so much to everyone who has favourited, followed and reviewed, and thanks to everyone for reading! I really hope you enjoyed this chapter. Thanks again!**


	21. Chapter 21

**Dimitri's Point of View.**

I knew Rose Hathaway would turn my life upside down the minute I set eyes on her. I was damn right.

I took Rose for granted this whole time. I was always trying to stay away from her. I knew I wanted her, I had to have her, but I knew it was wrong. I'm her mentor; I shouldn't feel this strongly about her. I had this insanely powerful pull towards her wherever I go. I had always been stoic and professional, I'd never let anything distract me since the death of my charge and best friend, Ivan. Then she came along.

Now she's gone, I don't know what to do with myself. I am lost in a world that does not have Rose Hathaway in it.

That's why I knew I had to tell Alberta why Tasha had taken Roza. Ivashkov had just told us that it was Tasha that took my Roza. I hated that he could talk to her, he could see her, and I couldn't.

I wasn't wasting a moment longer. 'Guardian Petrov, may I speak to you in private for a moment?' I didn't exactly want to explain all this in front of Rose's friends. Petrov nodded at me, she didn't look at all surprised, and I expect she knew what I was about to say. I didn't wait for her to say anything. As soon as we were out of the room, I started. 'This has to be because of me. It's my fault she took her. I have to go after her.' I was about to continue but Alberta cut me off.

'Where will you go Dimitri? You have absolutely no idea where Rose is being held. You'll be wasting more time. You should wait until Adrian can speak with her again. I know its hard Dimitri, but you'll be no use to her if you are out there.' I didn't want to believe it, but I knew she was right. It was driving me crazy waiting around this horrible Academy. I always expect to see her coming round the corner with that perfect smile on her face, always in a rush because she's always late for something.

Alberta dismissed me soon after and told me to get some rest. Like I could rest at a time like this. I won't rest until I have Roza safely in my arms. And I'm not letting go of her now. None of this staying away from each other bullshit. It's not worth it.

A day or so later, I was called back to speak with Ivashkov along with Alberta, Vasilisa, Christian and Eddie Castille. As soon as I entered the room, Adrian Ivashkov wrapped his skinny little Moroi hands around my throat and did his best to strangle me. I didn't even try stopping him.

I heard Vasilisa's cry of alarm, and Alberta soon pulled him off me. 'What the hell man?!' Eddie said to him. Ivashkov was breathing heavily, and he looked really pissed off. All his anger was directed at me.

I kept my voice level. 'What is it? What happened? Is she ok?' I didn't care why he was pissed at me; I just had to know Roza was ok.

'I wouldn't say she was ok, but she's not dead yet so I guess that's something to be hopeful for. No thanks to you. Do you know why Tasha took her? It's to get to you. To lure you to her, Belikov. She's using Rose as bait, because she fucking knows you'd do anything for her.' He was shouting now. Rose had mentioned that when the darkness gets too much for him he starts to ramble, I wonder if this was one of those times or if he was really just that pissed off with me.

'Where is she? I'll go and get her. I need to get to Rose, no matter what. Please, tell me where she is.' I was practically begging him now.

Adrian started laughing, hysterically laughing. The Princess was about to step in, but Christian held her back. 'She's in the mountains somewhere. She knows exactly where she is, and you know what? She wouldn't tell me where she is. Can you guess why? So that you can't go after her. She said she'd find a way to get out by herself. She made me _promise_ her you wouldn't go and look for her. You selfish, selfish bastard.' He shoved Eddie out of the way and left, slamming the door after him.

What had I done? I made my way to the door. Vasilisa's small hand gripped my arm, she looked up at me, and she looked so scared for her friend. 'Are you going after her?' She asked me, her voice was so small. I nodded at her. 'I'll start in the mountains, I can't sit around here doing nothing.'

I addressed Alberta then. 'I'm going after her, either send a search team out or don't. I'll keep you posted.'

I left the room and practically sprinted over to my room. I had taken Roza's stake from her room after she'd been taken, so I could give it back to her when I found her, so I put that in my duster along with my own. I packed a bag with some food and water and a few basic medical supplies, all for Rose when I find her.

I made my way over to the Academy's well stocked garage and took the keys to a sleek black Land Rover. I headed north, straight towards the first group of mountains I could see, I had to start somewhere.

 **There we have Chapter 21! Sorry it's not overly long, and a bit random. But I had been considering doing just one Chapter in Dimitri's point of view, and then Beata5645 suggested it and I thought why not?! I was really looking forward to writing from his point of view as he's such an interesting character. I really hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I'm really sorry if you didn't, but please let me know! Thanks so much for reading and all of your support!**


	22. Chapter 22

I had not heard from Adrian in a day or so since I made him promise not to let Dimitri come after me. Then I was pulled into Lissa's head, and I found out Adrian couldn't even keep his promise. Dimitri was coming. I had to get out of here before he got to me. I would not let Tasha Ozera use compulsion on him.

After seeing the way Adrian and Dimitri reacted when they found out it was because of him that Tasha had taken me, Lissa was curious as to why Tasha would use me to get to Dimitri, but eventually figured out our feelings must be a little more than that of a typical mentor and student.

I had also managed to talk to Eva, when no one else was around. She was reluctant to talk to me at first, but she gave in eventually, explaining that she's never had anyone to talk to before. She's 14 and was taken by some of the older Strigoi a few years ago as a permanent blood bag and slave.

She had managed to bring me a few scraps of food one day when the Strigoi were gone. I found out that the majority of the Strigoi spend the daylight hours in caves and shelters around the mountains, which isn't surprising. Things can often get messy when too many of them are around at once. But that Tasha spends the majority of her time in the house that I'm being kept in. I also found out that I am in the basement.

Eva usually came to see me first thing in the morning, as soon as the sun had risen, when Tasha and the Strigoi were either asleep or away from the house. And so I wasn't surprised when she walked in the room that morning, she was however very surprised, with what I said next.

'We have to get out of here.' I wasn't wasting any time. I knew Dimitri was out looking for me, and I had to get out of this place before he found me. He was heading towards the mountains, so he'd be in the general area, I hoped.

'What? Rose, we can't do that!' I knew she'd take some persuading.

'Come on, Eva. Do you really want to stay here for the rest of your life? You can come back with me; I promise it'll be ok. If we leave now we'll be out the door and into the sun before anyone even realises we're gone.'

She looked hesitant; I knew she'd need more convincing. 'Or just loosen the restraints for me a bit, and I can do the rest. No one will know you had anything to do with it, please. But I want you to come with me; I want to make sure you'll be ok.'

She took a long time thinking about it, longer than I'd have liked. But I knew this was hard for her. I knew she was scared. I was too, but I couldn't show it, I had to do this. I gave her a reassuring smile. I could see on her face when she'd made her decision. She walked behind me and undid the ties around my hands, then my feet. I couldn't help myself; I hugged her when I stood up.

I stumbled slightly; I had barely moved from this chair for days, I didn't even know how long I'd been here for.

She took a key out of her pocket and unlocked the door. There was nothing but a staircase, leading to another locked door, which Eva also had the key to.

Then we were in a grand hallway. The house was old fashioned clearly, but vintage. It had great wooden tables with fancy statues and vases, with hard-wood flooring and dark wallpaper, all looking incredibly expensive. Opposite me was a large mirror. I looked awful. The burn marks on my arms were clear as day; my hair was matted with blood which came from the nasty looking bite on my neck. I also had a cut lip and black eye. And those were only the injuries I could see, who knows what else there is to add to the list. I expect maybe a cracked rib or two.

Light was shining through a window on the front door, leading to my freedom, just at the other end of the hallway. I could almost taste the fresh air from here.

We didn't even get to take a step before I was shoved off my feet and through another door, by something so strong it could only be a Strigoi. My limbs screamed out to me in pain. I was sprawled on the floor in what looked like a lounge; the windows were boarded up so that fucking Strigoi could prance about as it pleased.

He turned his attention to Eva then, she practically shook with fear. I didn't waste any time, I had to find a weapon. I knew there would be no charmed silver stake in this house, so I made my way over to the kitchen, hoping to find a knife or something sharp enough to take its head off with.

When I returned, the Strigoi was just lowering its filthy mouth to Eva's neck, when I sliced the biggest, sharpest knife I could find across his neck. That got his attention. I didn't waste any time when he turned to face me, I pushed him as hard as I could against the wall and dug the knife into his neck. I covered his mouth as much as I could while doing so, trying to make as little noise as possible.

After some time, I felt the knife go through the spinal cord, and then he collapsed. I didn't have time to take his head off completely; we had to get out of here while he was still down.

I made sure Eva was following me and ran out of the front door, which was unlocked, I guess they never thought I could make it this far. The sunlight and fresh air hit me like a tidal wave. I had just run down the front steps, making sure I was in the sun. Relief washed over me when I knew we were safe.

Then I heard it. I heard Eva cry my name out. High pitched and frightened. I spun around to face her. She was in the doorway, in the shade. The Strigoi with the half cut open neck had her in a headlock.

I knew what was coming, I'd seen this before. I took a step closer to them when she shook her head and mouthed, ' _run'_ to me.

The Strigoi had the biggest smile on his sickening face. In the blink of an eye I heard the unforgettable snap of her neck breaking in two.

I did it again. When would people stop dying because of me? I could see the Strigoi laughing, but I could not hear him. I could hear nothing but my own heartbeat. I was numb.

I didn't show an inch of emotion as I stared into his red eyes, I would not give him that pleasure.

I glanced down once more at her delicate, crumpled body. And after only a second, I did as she'd told me. I turned, and on wobbly legs, I ran.

 **There's Chapter 22! I really enjoyed writing this chapter, despite the sad ending. I've got something good lined up for the next chapter too! I really hope you enjoyed this chapter, and thank you all so much for your support and for reading, I really appreciate it!**


	23. Chapter 23

I ran until my legs couldn't carry me anymore. I was surrounded by tall, looming trees now. I must have run a few miles at least, I knew I shouldn't be stopping yet, but I'd barely moved in the last few days, I had to catch my breath. I sat down with my back against a thick tree. Dead leaves crunched beneath my movements. I knew Tasha would know that I had escaped by now. That damn Strigoi would have told her by now. And being Moroi, she'd be able to come out in the sun; she'd be coming after me. I just had to hope that Dimitri was around here somewhere, and he would help me.

I rested my head back against the tree and closed my eyes. I saw Eva's crumpled body, with her disfigured neck and quickly opened them again. How could I let her die because of me? No one is safe around me.

I was deep in thought when I heard a twig snap to my right. I stood up immediately and saw Dimitri standing there. He had found me, I knew he would! I cried out his name and ran towards him, ready to cling onto him and never let go. I'd never been more pleased to see him.

I was about a metre away from him; my arms were wide open, ready to embrace him. When his fist flew out and slammed into the side of my head. I flew to the side; he knocked me right into a tree. My vision blurred for a few heartbeats.

Before I could even take a breath, one of his strong, calloused hands gripped my hair and pulled me to my feet as if I were as light as a feather.

'Dimitri, what the hell are you doing?!' He carried on his abuse as if he hadn't heard a thing. He punched me in the stomach three times over, knocking the air right out of my lungs.

He shoved me away again; I managed to stay on my feet this time. He threw punches towards me left right and centre, he barely blinked the whole time. I was only just managing to block his blows.

'Dimitri, it's me. Please, stop.' I was saying between blocking his punches.

I had no idea why he was doing this. Did he blame me for letting myself be taken by Tasha? Did he even believe I'd been taken at all?

We had been fighting for what felt like hours and I hadn't thrown a single punch towards him. Despite the ways he was hurting me, I didn't want to hurt him. I was in complete defence mode. I would not hurt him. Although I'm not sure I could even if I wanted to. It was clear I was losing this fight. Was he going to kill me?

Dimitri had hit me in the head once more, whipping my head to the side. It was then that I saw a figure in the distance, watching the whole thing.

I knew it was Tasha immediately.

I saw the look of concentration on her face, a look I had seen on Lissa hundreds of time while we were on the run, however never this intense, or for this long. And I knew what was happening then, Dimitri was under compulsion. She was compelling him to attack me, probably to kill me.

I knew then that I was going to die. I would die at the hands of Dimitri, the one person I loved more than anything in this world. I always knew I'd die in battle; I had come to terms with the thought a long time ago. I just always thought I would die protecting Lissa. But there was no way I could win this fight, he's so much stronger than me, my old injuries, and now new ones were slowing me down.

He would kill me and then go off with Tasha; he'd be stuck with her for the rest of his life. Who would protect Lissa with us both gone?

I was struck with an idea then. I thought of the one way I could win this fight; I had to break the compulsion. I either had to get to Tasha, who was a long way away. Or get through to Dimitri somehow. I knew I'd never make it close enough to Tasha to hurt her; Dimitri would kill me before I got that far. And I didn't even know if it was possible to get through to someone who was under compulsion, especially this strong. But I knew one thing, I had to try.

I was talking to him the whole time he was attacking me now, trying to get through to him. Nothing was working. I had to make this work. I looked for my window of opportunity and took it. He went to grab me, this time I let him. He shoved me to the ground and landed on top of me. His large hands went around my throat.

'Dimitri. It's me, its Rose, Roza. Please don't do this. I love you.' He hesitated for just a second; his grip on my neck loosened the smallest amount.

I took the chance. I raised my head, tilting my face up closer to his, and pressed my lips firmly against his.

He was still for a moment, frozen. Then I heard him exhale and he kissed me back. His hands loosened completely from around my neck, and instead he wrapped them around me, bringing me closer to him. I was the first to break the kiss.

'Dimitri.' Was all I said, just his name. I was searching his eyes and found warmth that was not there before.

'Roza? I'm so sorry. I love you Roza. Will you ever forgive me?' His voice shook. I could see tears forming in his eyes. I stroked his cheek with my hand. 'It's ok. It wasn't you. I love you, Dimitri.'

He kissed me again. All of his pain, sorrow and love poured into me from that kiss. And I was lost in him. I couldn't get close enough to him; I would never be close enough.

' _No!_ Kill her!' We heard Tasha scream from the distance. Quicker than I thought possible, Dimitri pulled us up into a standing position, and he was stood protectively in front of me.

She stormed towards us, but stopped a few steps in front of us, not wanting to get too close, I couldn't blame her for that. Dimitri was practically shaking with anger.

Tasha didn't even look at Dimitri, she'd obviously given up trying to use compulsion on him. Instead, she looked at me. She didn't blink, and her gaze didn't waver. Neither did mine.

'Rose. Come here.' She said. Her voice was steady. I knew she was using compulsion on me. She didn't know, however, that it wasn't working.

I didn't know if it was a shadow-kissed thing, but I'd never been under compulsion before. That didn't stop me from acting as if I was though. I had to get close to her. I didn't hesitate. I didn't blink. I just walked towards her. Dimitri tried stopping me, but I shook off his attempts.

A fire ball was circling her hand; she was going to kill me with fire. Bitch. As soon as I was close enough. I swung my arm and aimed my first towards her face. I put all my strength behind the punch, and she wasn't expecting it at all. I knocked her out cold.

Dimitri was beside me in an instant. He had a backpack with him this time. He handed me rope and a blind fold. If it wasn't such a serious situation, I'd make some kind of joke about the kinky items he had in his bag. I tied Tasha's feet together, and her hands behind her back, as well as covering her eyes with the fabric. There was no way she was getting out of this, or using compulsion on us again. While I was doing so, Dimitri pulled out a mobile phone, and made a call to who I assumed was Alberta. He briefly explained the situation, asking for backup after telling her where we are. He hung up shortly after and told me others would be with us in half an hour.

'Roza, I'm so so sorry. It was awful, I knew I was doing it to you, but I couldn't stop. I thought I was going to kill you.' He held my face in his hands, so gently.

Every inch of my body ached. But I still managed to smile up at him, more for his benefit than my own; I knew this would haunt him. 'It's ok Dimitri. I knew it wasn't you.'

We stood like that for some time, until two large black cars pulled up nearby. Guardians carried Tasha's limp body into one of the cars, and lead us over to the other. We sat in the back of the car together; I was wrapped in Dimitri's duster. I leant my head against his shoulder, his arms automatically wrapping around me. I was asleep within seconds.

 **There we have Chapter 23! I really enjoyed writing this chapter, although it was difficult to write about Dimitri in that way! I really hope you all enjoyed this chapter and it wasn't too generic or anything. Please feel free to let me know your thoughts. Thank you all so much for your continual support, I appreciate it more than you know! Thanks again so much for reading, I really hope you enjoyed it!**


	24. Chapter 24

I could hear beeping. And my surroundings smelt sterile. So I knew I was in the infirmary before I even opened my eyes. It took me some time to wake up fully, and when I did, I was not at all surprised to see I was indeed in an uncomfortable hospital bed in the Academy's infirmary. I have no idea how I got here, the last thing I remember is falling asleep in the back of one of the Academy's cars.

My arms were laid out in front of me, and the hand-shaped burn marks were still visible and painful, which along with all the other aches and pains that were coursing through my body, told me I hadn't been healed yet.

I was pleasantly surprised to see that I was alone in the room. I didn't want to be around anyone right now. I didn't want to have to pretend I was ok. That someone hadn't died because of me. An innocent girl. I couldn't stop it, I couldn't save her.

I knew from the dullness of the bond that Lissa was asleep, so hopefully it was night time, hopefully I wouldn't have any visitors for a while. I let myself cry. For the first time in so long. I just cried. I cried for Eva, I even cried for Mason. I cried for Eddie, I cried for Lissa, I cried for Dimitri. I cried for Christian too. All these people's lives that have been so strongly affected by my own. And yet they still stand by me.

My breathing became laboured, and the beeping that obviously had something to do with my heart rate started beeping faster and faster. Dr. Olendzki came rushing in then. I had come to get to know her after the many years of always winding up in her infirmary. And she knew me well by now. And not once since being here, had she ever seen me cry.

She barely said a word when she entered the room; she just slowly walked towards me and sat on the edge of my bed. She put her hand over my own and just sat with me.

It took me some time to regain control of myself, and once I did I apologised profusely to the doctor, she shook it off and told me it was quite alright. She also told me the extent of my injuries. Third-degree burns to my arms, bruising to the skull and cheekbone, two fractured ribs and bruises covering almost every inch of my body. Ouch. She let me rest again then, which I was grateful for.

I wondered how many of those injuries had been caused by Dimitri? I didn't blame him at all, I knew he couldn't have stopped no matter how hard he tried, but I knew he'd be beating himself up about it. I'm sure that's why he wasn't there by my side now.

I must have fallen asleep again, the next thing I knew I was woken up by strong feelings of shock going through the bond. I sat up straight and saw Lissa staring down at me, tears were clouding her eyes. When she saw me wake up, she threw herself at me. Despite the pain, I hugged her back.

After a while, she pulled back and examined me. 'Rose, I have to heal you, I can't stand seeing you like this.' I knew I wouldn't be able to argue with her. 'Fine, but just my head and maybe my ribs. I'm on strong pain killers, it doesn't hurt that much, and the darkness will get too much, and that won't help either of us.' I had to be firm with her or I knew she'd just heal all of me and overwork herself, I couldn't let that happen. Before she started, I had to ask. 'Is Christian ok, Liss? I know this must be hard on him.'

My question brought sadness to her features again, and I wished I hadn't asked. 'He's ok, just shocked and annoyed at Tasha. None of us thought she was capable of that Rose. He feels bad for you too, he doesn't blame you. She's being taken to Court soon, awaiting trial.'

I nodded, I knew it would be hard for him; she was the only family he had left. I hated that I was the one that ruined it for him.

She healed me after that, only small bits for my head and ribs, but it helped a lot. I was watching her through the bond the whole time, so I stopped her when I knew the darkness was beginning to swirl inside her. She protested, of course. A nurse brought a Guardian through then, and took Lissa to go to a feeder. I was grateful she healed me, but I also had to know she was going to be ok.

At least a day had passed, I did nothing but lay in bed, lost in my thoughts, I didn't have many visitors, and Dimitri didn't come once. The doctor came back in at some point and said there's not a lot else they could do for me, and so she gave me some more strong painkillers and discharged me. After Lissa had healed me, I only had a few bruises and burns, so I could walk fine. And made my way over to my room. I was grateful that I was on my own again.

As soon as I was in my room, I stripped and had a long shower. The past week had taken its toll on my body, I was slimmer now, and I'd lost a lot of my shape. My eyes looked darker, with heavy bags under them which seemed to be permanent. I put on an oversized t-shirt and slipped into my bed. I was asleep before I knew it.

I had dreams, of course I did. I dreamt of Mason, and Eva. Even Lissa's family was there. All this death I'd witnessed.

Adrian hadn't visited my dreams again since, Lissa mentioned that he hadn't stopped drinking since I was back, I guess the darkness was getting to him too.

I willed myself to wake up, I couldn't sleep any more. Being awake was pretty awful at the minute, but being asleep was worse.

There was a light knock on my door then, I was about to get up, which was a lot of effort. When I heard a key slip into the lock. Before I had chance to panic about who was breaking into my room, the door open and Dimitri stepped in to my room.

I sat back into bed when I noticed it was him, I'd worried for nothing. I was waiting for him to come over to me, perhaps sit on the edge of my bed and take my hand into his own. But he didn't. He just stood there, by the door.

His hair was a mess and he had stubble growing on his chin. He too had bags under his eyes. Those endless, bottomless eyes.

He clearly wasn't going to start a conversation any time soon, apparently that was my job. 'Are you okay, Dimitri?' What else could I say? I had been worried about him.

That snapped him out of whatever daze he was in. His fists clenched at his side. He'd been avoiding eye contact, but now his eyes snapped up and bored straight into mine. 'Am I okay? Am I okay? What a stupid question Rose! I attacked you, I almost killed you. And you are asking if I am okay?' He was breathing heavily now, I wonder how long he'd been holding all that in. He never loses control. He'd taken a few steps towards me during his outburst, but he was just standing next to my bed now.

'Dimitri, it wasn't your fault. I know it wasn't you, don't blame yourself. I'm fine, you helped me.' I grabbed his hand and pulled him down so he was sitting on the bed; I turned so I was facing him. 'Please, let it go.'

He slipped his hand out of mine, but didn't stand up. 'How can you say that after what I did?' I knew he'd feel guilty about it, but I had no idea he would feel this bad about it.

I sat up on my knees so my face was level with his. I rested both my hands on his cheeks so he couldn't look away. 'It wasn't you Dimitri. You didn't do anything. It was Tasha.'

He slowly raised his hand and slipped it into my hair, tangling his fingers into the dark strands. 'I'm so so sorry, Roza.' His voice was low and husky.

'You don't have anything to be sorry for.' Was all I said. He brought his face closer, so our foreheads were touching.

I knew he wouldn't want to be the one to make the first move. So I tilted my face up and pressed my lips gently to his. His other arm slipped around my waist almost automatically, bringing me closer to him so I was sitting on his lap, my thighs either side of his body.

I wrapped my arms around his neck, deepening the kiss. He lowered his hands to my bare thighs and massaged circles into them. The feeling made me gasp; he took the opportunity to slip his tongue into my mouth, which I didn't mind at all.

He trailed his kisses down to my neck, which made me bite my lip. I shoved his duster off his shoulders, it fell to the floor.

He gently lifted me off him, still kissing me, and laid me back down onto the bed, he was hovering over me now. He trailed one of his hands up my thigh, and up my arm. When his hand grazed over the burnt flesh of my arm I inhaled sharply from the pain. That made him stop his movements altogether.

My arms hadn't been bandaged at all; the doctor said they would heal faster if they were exposed to fresh air. Dimitri pulled back and looked down at my arms. His whole body tensed up. He disconnected himself from my arms and sat back, distancing himself from me.

He looked as if he was about to get up and leave, but I grabbed onto his arm, stopping him. 'Please, Dimitri. Don't go, don't leave me.' He thought about it for a while, I could almost see him weighing up his options in his head. He eventually sighed, his decision made. He kicked his shoes off and lay back on the bed next to me. His arms enveloped me and he placed a gentle kiss on the top of my head.

I didn't want to fall asleep, but I felt so safe and comfortable in his arms, I couldn't stay awake for long.

 **There we have Chapter 24! I really hope you liked it, and I'm really sorry if it was a bit boring and dull for you. I feel like this story is kind of coming to an end now if I'm honest, but I have a few ideas about other Romitri stories I'd love to write, so I thought I'd try and get your opinions. I've been thinking of writing a 'Love fades' story, where Rose runs off and lives in Russia for a year with Dimitri's family, and he doesn't even know. Until a year later he goes to visit and runs into her at his house, and they have to learn to live with each other. But I've read a lot of stories like that, and don't want to copy anyone. I also want to make sure I'm writing what you all want to read, so please please please give me any ideas you'd like to see, and I'll do my best. And also let me know if you do want me to carry on this story, but do give me ideas as I'm not really sure what direction to take it in. Thanks again so much for reading and for all of your support.**


	25. Chapter 25

A week had passed since I'd been discharged from the Infirmary. A week since I fell asleep in Dimitri's arms. I had barely left my room in that week, Lissa, Dimitri and sometimes Christian and Eddie brought me my meals so I wouldn't have to go and eat in the crowded cafeteria, little did they know that the majority of the food either went out my bedroom window. I hadn't been back to classes yet, nor had I started training yet. And although being cooped up in my room was driving me insane, I was terrified to go back out in front of everyone. I wonder what kind of rumours had been circulating the Academy about me.

It was Sunday morning, and I agreed to meet everyone down for breakfast, baby steps. The cafeteria wasn't very busy when I walked in, which I was pleased to see. There were only a few other tables being used and I didn't recognise the people. There were also a few guardians dotted around the room, standing to attention. My eyes were drawn straight to Dimitri when I walked in; I gave him a small smile, which he returned.

Lissa, Christian and Eddie were sat at one of the tables at the edge of the room, probably picking a quieter spot for my benefit. I went to the counter and got a chocolate doughnut and made my way over to the table.

Lissa got up and hugged me when she saw me approaching. 'Good to have you back, Rosie.' Christian said, causing me to roll my eyes. He'd been to visit me a few times since I'd been shutting myself in my room, and I'd actually come to enjoy his company, which is something I never thought I'd say.

I'd eaten about half of my doughnut, and conversation between the four of us was easy. I tried not to keep turning around and looking at Dimitri, but it was hard when I could feel his heated gaze on my back.

I felt Adrian coming through Lissa's feeling of unease that came through the bond. I was in her head for just a second, long enough to see him stumbling through the cafeteria, towards our table. I also got a glance at myself through her head. I looked pretty shitty. The bags under my eyes were ever present, as well as the bruises. I kept my hair down to mask the scars and bruising that might still be covering my neck, and I wore long sleeves all day, every day, to cover the burn marks.

I was back in my own head before I knew it. I felt Adrian's arm wrap around my shoulders, and he placed a sloppy kiss to my cheek. I hadn't seen him since I'd been back, so that was an unexpected greeting.

'Nic e to have you b-back, Little Dhampir. Sorry I haven't seen you yet, I've been a bit busy.' He stuttered to me. He reeked of vodka and cigarette smoke. I shook his arm off me.

'You haven't been busy, Adrian. You've been drunk.' Lissa said to him before anyone else could reply, giving him an accusing glare.

'Sorry Princess, not all of us are lucky enough to have a bond mate who can take the darkness away from us whenever we want.' He snapped back. That made Lissa hesitate, she didn't know what to say to that, probably because Adrian was right.

An awkward silence began to form. It wasn't long before it was broken, however I'd much rather it be silent.

Jesse Zeklos and Ralf Sarcozy approached the table, and they were headed straight for me, great. 'Oh, look whose back. Enjoy your little vacation, Hathaway?' They were taunting me; I didn't even turn my head to look at them. But once again it was Lissa who jumped to my rescue, although I'd much rather she hadn't.

'Rose hasn't been on a vacation. Why don't you just leave her alone for once?' This is exactly why I didn't want Lissa defending me, I know she means well, but she's really not that great in arguments, I've always been the best at insulting people.

The two Moroi boys just laughed at her, that pissed us all off. I clenched my jaw, but still pretended they weren't there. 'Look at you, _Princess,_ the fun one disappears for a week and finally you grow some balls? Don't get too carried away!' Lissa's annoyance was pulsing through the bond, which really wasn't helping my own.

Lissa stood up then, looking both the boys in the eye. 'Get out of here, and leave us _alone._ ' She laced her words with compulsion. My mind flashed back to Tasha's scarred face as she was using compulsion on Dimitri, making him attack me. The next time I looked up, the annoying little shits were gone. Adrian was looking between Lissa and I in a weird way, and Christian looked concerned about Liss.

Lissa's tiny, pale hands starting shaking, and she carefully sat back down into her seat next to Christian. Who put his arm around her waist and kissed her gently on the lips. The darkness was pooling in Lissa's mind. There was a little bit there before, barely noticeable. But now, after using compulsion, it was swirling around her mind like a whirlpool of waves.

I couldn't stop myself. I mentally reached out into her mind, and pulled all the darkness from her mind into my own. I hadn't meant to take all of it. The tremor in Lissa's hand disappeared, and instead started in my own.

I could tell Adrian was saying my name, he must have seen it happen through our auras. Lissa looked worried now too. I wasn't paying attention though; I was focussing all my energy on staying in control.

Adrian put his hand on my arm, he must have meant to calm me down or comfort me, but he placed his hand right over the place where Tasha had burnt me with her hands. I practically ripped his hand away from my skin. I swore through gritted teeth.

I slowly peeled the sleeve of my top off my arm, revealing the burnt flesh to everyone sitting around the table. The skin had started to peel and bleed. 'Rose, I'm so sorry, I didn't know.' Most of my injuries had healed on their own by now, but the burns were some of the worst I had, and were taking their time healing.

I felt the spirit begin to rise in Lissa, she was going to heal me. I stood up sharply from my seat and looked towards her. 'Lissa, don't. The darkness is getting out of control as it is. Please, no more spirit.' She looked reluctant, but eventually nodded.

I hadn't wanted my friends to see the extent of my injuries, so I didn't sit down again. I turned around and saw Dimitri walking towards me with a concerned look on his face; he must have seen the whole thing.

When he reached me, he put his hand on my shoulder in a way that could be deemed as normal for a mentor, but the concern in his eyes was real. 'Come on, Roza. I'll get you cleaned up.' He murmured, glancing down at my arm. I just nodded to him and let him lead me out of the room. Lissa apologised to me through the bond, I knew she'd be feeling guilty, I'll comfort her later.

After a few minutes of walking, I assumed he must be leading me to the gym. I was surprised he wasn't taking me to the Infirmary, but he probably knew I'd protest.

Once we entered the gym, he led me over to the small room off the side where he'd once tended to my hands when they were injured during our training sessions over the winter. There was a sink and a small cupboard which held medical supplies.

I sat down on the stool by the sink as he got a clean cloth and wet it with cold water. He gently pulled my sleeve higher up my arm, and placed the cool cloth against my hot skin. It was incredibly soothing.

Dimitri's hands would always fascinate me. I will never understand how his hands can be so gentle and soothing as well as being able to fight and kill so effortlessly.

'Thank you.' I whispered once he had finished tending to my arm. He put the cloth away and came to stand in front of me. The room was so small, so he had to stand close.

He brought his hand up to my face and gently stroked my cheek; I leaned into his touch, closing my eyes. 'You're still not sleeping well.' He said, it was a statement, not a question. He knew I'd been having nightmares, and could probably tell from the bags under my eyes that they hadn't been improving.

'It's ok.' I mumbled. I hated making him worry about me; he didn't need that on top of everything else he has going on.

His hand was still resting on my cheek, I placed my hand over his now, making sure he couldn't take it away. I basked in the feeling of his skin against my own. 'I wish I could make it better, Roza.' He stepped even closer to me; I slowly opened my legs so that he could step in between them. I just wanted him closer to me.

'Being with you makes it better, Comrade.' He gave me a half-hearted smile then, but I'm sure he wasn't convinced.

I was still holding my hand over his own, so I slowly moved my hand down to his wrist and placed a kiss there, his smell was intoxicating.

I heard a low rumble come deep from his chest. He lifted my chin with his hand and placed his lips over my own.

I wrapped my arms around his neck and tangled my fingers into his hair. One of his arms circled my waist, bringing me closer to him, while his other hand trailed down my body until it reached my thigh, which he wrapped around himself.

I pushed his duster off his shoulders and slipped my hands under his shirt so I could feel his perfect abs, he growled my name, ' _Roza'_. His hands trailed down my body again until his thumbs dipped under the hem of my top, stroking the bare skin there. His finger dug into my hips. I gasped his name and my hips jerked, making me feel things I had never felt before.

' _Rose, will you come to my room as soon as you can please. Adrian wants to apologise for being an ass earlier.'_

Hearing Lissa's high pitched voice was like having a bucket of ice cold water being poured over me. My body tensed up and my movements froze. Dimtiri noticed the difference in my immediately and pulled back. 'Roza, what's wrong Milaya?' His accent was so much more pronounced now.

'Nothing, Lissa sent me a message, she wants me to meet her in her room.' He nodded and disentangled himself from my arms and legs.

'Sorry, Comrade. I'll see you later.' I said as I stood up. He looked embarrassed. I stood up in my tip-toes and pressed my lips to his once more.

I pulled away with a smile on my face, which made him smile in return. 'Goodbye Roza.' He mumbled as I left the room.

 **There we have Chapter 25! I really hope you enjoyed it, sorry if it was a bit random. I've got an idea in my head for another story which I might try writing the first chapter of soon, but I won't give up on this story! Thanks so much for all your support, I can't believe how many views this story has had! Thanks again so much for reading, and please feel free to give any suggestions of ways I can improve as I'd love to hear them!**


	26. Chapter 26

A few uneventful weeks had passed since the situation in the cafeteria happened. Graduation was fast approaching and because of that Dimitri had upped the power on our training sessions; he was challenging me a lot more and putting me in more difficult situations.

Like today, after running a few laps he led me outside into the more wooded part of the Academy's grounds, so I could see the dark silhouettes of looming trees as we approached. Dimitri told me he had specifically timed our session today so it would be pitch black outside; he had also taken my stake away from me when I walked into the gym earlier that day.

He explained what we would be doing on our walk to the woods. 'Today I'm going to make you spar against me without two of your main advantages, your stake and your ability to actually see what's going on.' He was damn right about that, I wouldn't even know he was next to me if it weren't for the light thud his feet made as they hit the ground while he walked by my side.

'Now, when we get into the woods, it's going to be even harder to see, so you're going to have to use everything you can to your advantage. Give me some examples of what you could use in a situation like this.'

I thought about the question for just a moment until I answered. 'I'll use the trees, hiding behind them.' I listened to his feet hitting the ground and thought of another thing I could use against him. 'I'll be able to hear you move as well. But you'll be able to hear me too, even more so if you're a strigoi.'

I could very slightly see his head nodding along with what I was saying; the bright moon above us in the sky gave us a fraction of light. 'Very good, so you are going to have to use sound to your advantage, and my disadvantage.'

We were deep in the woods by now; I could only occasionally see the moon through the branches coming off the trees. When he stopped walking I turned to face him. 'I'll give you 30 seconds to go and prepare yourself, and then I'm coming after you as if I'm a Strigoi. Go.'

I didn't wait around for him to say more. I walked straight past him so I would be starting off behind him. I caught a whiff of his aftershave as I passed him, it made me want to melt on the spot but I knew I could use that to my advantage.

I ran as quickly and as quietly as I could. I stumbled on a large log at some point, but picked it up after I corrected myself, I could use it as a weapon.

I was trying to count to thirty so I would know when he was coming after me, but I forgot to keep counting after I tripped. And so once I had my 'weapon' I picked a tree at random and stood behind it. He'd only be able to see me if he was at the right angle and the moon was shining down on me.

I could hear absolutely nothing but the sound of my own heartbeat thudding away, a lot quicker than normal might I add. It felt like I was stood there for hours, but in reality I'm sure it was only a moment.

I was losing faith in this whole thing, and then I heard a twig snap. I stopped breathing altogether. It sounded close, just to my right. I heard a whoosh of air and instinct made me duck my head, which I was definitely right to do, I heard Dimitri's fist connect with the tree where my head had been seconds ago.

I managed to take a few steps before he roughly gripped my arm and turned me to face him. He too had found a weapon as I saw a thick branch come towards my head; I managed to lift my own branch just in time to block it.

He wasn't holding back, but neither was I. We were using our branches as if we were in a sword fight. I received one blow so hard it snapped my branch in half, so I had two smaller ones now; this allowed me to move quicker, which wasn't bad at all.

I could hear his foot hit the ground each time before he went to hit me, so I used that to my advantage. He we going for a big hit, he raised his arm up high, ready to aim right for me, when I ducked and sprinted round behind him, where I swung a kick right at his back. He wasn't expecting that at all and he went crashing to the ground. I couldn't 'kill' him from there. So I used the first lesson he ever taught me, I ran. He was making quite a lot of noise when he fell and got back up again, so that gave me a few seconds to sprint away.

I ran as quietly as I could again, and hid behind a tree once more. I found a position where there was a small break in the trees; the moon was shining down on the space to my left. I still had both branches in my hands; I could feel the splinters digging in to the skin of my palm.

Dimitri appeared to my left, he couldn't see me. His back was facing towards me. He was stood still now, listening for any movement.

I slowly raised the branch in my right hand above my head, and threw it as far as I could, over Dimitri's head. It made a loud thud quite a distance in front of him. He stalked towards it, thinking it was me. I came out of hiding from behind my tree, I matched my footsteps to his perfectly so I was walking right behind him and he had no idea.

He stopped once more, listening for me again. I stood as still as a statue just a foot away from him, I didn't even breathe. I took my chance and pounced right onto his back, pushing him to the ground. He twisted as he fell so he landed on his back with me on top of him.

My remaining branch happened to have a slight point at the end. I grabbed his weapon and threw it to the side. I held each of his hands down with my legs which were either side of his body, and brought my branch down over where his heart was beating. If he were actually a strigoi, it wouldn't kill him but it would incapacitate him for long enough for me to run a good distance away from him.

I was breathing heavily now, as was he. The moon was shining down on his face, making him look pale and ghostly, it made his features stand out sharply, and he was breathtaking. The smile that lit up his face made my breath catch in my throat.

I dropped the branch to the side and slid my hands up his chest. I wasn't holding his hands down any more so one rested on my leg and the other he lifted to my face where he pushed a few stray hairs behind my ear. I leant into his touch.

He brought his thumb down and traced my lower lip with it. I couldn't hold myself back anymore, I leant down so our faces were inches apart, and lowered my lips to his.

The kiss was slow to start with; he was pouring his heart into that kiss. I brought my hands lower and slipped them under his shirt so they rested on his abs, a low growl came from his chest and he nipped my bottom lip, making me gasp. He slipped his heavenly tongue into my mouth and I more than happily returned the gesture.

He ran his hands down my body until they rested on my thighs which were on either side of his waist. He rubbed his thumbs against my thighs, the feeling made me jerk my hips, they moved without me even telling them to.

When my hips ground into his another growl emitted from him, much deeper this time. He pulled his lips away from mine and looked at me once more.

He managed to stand himself up with me still wrapped around him. He kissed me once more then put me down. He took my hand into his and kissed it. Then led me out of the woods and out into the open. I clung onto his hand for dear life, I didn't want to ruin the moment by asking where we were going. I'm glad I didn't ask. A few minutes later I saw where he was leading me. We were headed towards the cabin.

 **There we have Chapter 26! I kind of fear this story is coming to an end now, I am planning on doing one or two more chapters at some point, but would quite like to focus on my new story now, but I can't leave this one without an ending!** **I just wanted to thank every single one of you for reading; I will happily continue this story if you really want and if someone can give me some inspiration!**

 **A guest recently left a review saying I kept spelling 'organize' wrong, which was perfectly fine it's just that I'm from England, where we spell it with organise! No harm done, just wanted to justify myself, thanks for reviewing anyway!**

 **Thanks again for all your support, I hope you enjoyed the chapter, I really enjoyed writing it!**


	27. Chapter 27

A light swirl of nerves started to tingle in the pit of my stomach as we approached the cabin, my hand still firmly gripping Dimitri's. A light layer of sweat had begun to form on my skin, both from the tough physical fight with Dimitri only moments ago, and the intense kissing that went on after it. I had no idea what Dimitri's intentions were with me in the cabin, but whatever they were, they had caused nervous excitement to course through my veins.

We reached the cabin door and Dimitri reluctantly let go of my hand, he reached into the pocket of his duster and pulled out a set of keys, one of which he used to open the creaking door. Once it was open, he took my hand and linked our fingers once more.

I had seen this cabin once before, when Tasha was staying here to visit Christian, it was vacant now. Dimitri turned on a fading lamp which gave us enough light to see by. He turned to me once more and cupped my face in his hands. I closed my eyes and leant into his touch.

His thumb gently traced my lower lip, I opened my eyes and gazed up at him just to find him staring down at me, his bottomless eyes held so many emotions, love, pride and awe being the primary ones, but I also saw lust in there, a look that I had only seen in those eyes once or twice. The look made my stomach tighten.

I trailed my hand up his arm and slipped my arm around his neck, pulling myself up against his body. His arms trailed down my sides until they wrapped around my waist. Then he was kissing me again, and the whole world melted away until it was nothing but him and me and everything we had been through.

My body moulded to his as if my whole existence was made purely for the purpose of being close to him, and our tongues danced with each other. I couldn't get enough of him.

It was the middle of the Moroi day, so the moon was high up in the sky. Streaks of white shone down through the window and landed on his face, making him look even more Godly than ever.

I pushed his duster off his shoulders as he led us over to the bed which was in the corner of the room. He sat down when his legs hit the edge of the bed and fell down onto the somewhat soft mattress, I went down after him, landing on his lap, my legs either side of his body so I was straddling him.

I slowly pulled my hands away from him and unzipped my jacket, leaving me only in my tank top and work out leggings that I had worn for training. Dimitri must have appreciated the change as he slipped the straps of my top and my bra down on my right shoulder and started kissing my neck and shoulder. I pulled the hair band out of his shoulder length hair and ran my fingers through it. I felt his teeth nip at the skin on my shoulders; I did my best to bite back the moan that escaped my lips, but didn't do very well.

He moved us back and pulled me so I was lying on the bed and he was hovering over me. His strong hands slipped under my top and rested high up on my waist, I leant up on my elbows so that he could take my top off. His soon followed.

I ran my hands down his chest and onto his abs, revelling in the feel of his tense muscles contracting under my touch, he was truly incredible. He was gazing down at me in a similar way. 'You are magnificent, my Roza.'

A blush rose up into my cheeks; he kissed each one, making me smile. 'You are so beautiful, it hurts me.'

'Oh Dimitri.' Was all I said before bringing his lips back to mine. I had never been very eloquent with words, I preferred using actions. But Dimitri's words and the way he said them made me feel like the most loved person in the world.

I ran my hands down his body once more, until I reached his belt. I started to unbuckle it but his hands found mine and held them in place. 'Roza, are you sure? I didn't bring you here just for that, I just wanted to be close to you.' He was so sweet, I knew he wouldn't bring me here just for that reason, that didn't mean I didn't want to do it though.

'I know Comrade, but I want to. I love you.' The smile that lit up his face took my breath away. His lips were on mine again, this time there was more need, almost like an urgency. 'I love you, so much, my Roza.' He said between kisses.

His hands brushed over my breasts and that contact alone made me moan out loud. I began to unbuckle his belt, and that's when it hit me.

The pain in my stomach felt like I'd just been kicked, the air rushed out of my lungs. The nausea made my head swirl. Dimitri noticed the change in me almost as soon as I did. His hands were on my face, making me look into his worry-filled eyes. 'What is it? What's wrong?' He asked, urgency lacing his words.

I shook my head, trying to clear the cloudiness. 'It's like outside the restaurant. Strigoi. But a lot worse. They must be on campus.'

Dimitri leapt off me in an instant, his clothes back on in seconds. I did the same. I launched myself into Lissa's head; I had to know she was ok. She was in her dorm room with Christian. I was back in my own head before I knew it, at least she was with him, I had to trust that he wouldn't let anything happen to her until I could reach them.

Dimitri pulled two stakes practically from thin air, one was mine, I could tell by the engravings. 'Roza, we have to alert the others. Buria, tell them Buria.' He took my hand in his own and we ran out of the door.

I glanced around our surroundings, I couldn't see any Strigoi, but the persistent sickness told me all I needed to know, they were here.

Dimitri pulled out his mobile phone with his free hand as we ran; it didn't slow him down one bit. I didn't know who he was talking to, but he spoke quickly, and I heard the word _Buria_ once or twice, although I had no idea what it meant. He hung up the phone and shortly after I heard an alarm blaring, the Academy buildings were in sight, and it was organised chaos.

Guardians were everywhere, some running, some stood still, but I had no doubt that each and every one of them had specific jobs to do in a situation like this.

That's when the Strigoi appeared. There were at least 20 of them already, coming from several directions. But the Guardians were ready; the Strigoi weren't expecting them to be prepared.

Dimitri and I reached the Guardian building where we found Alberta, she had just dismissed a group of Guardians, and they swiftly left. 'Dimitri, you know what to do. Rose...-'

I didn't let her finish. 'I'm going to protect Lissa, I know exactly where she is.' She looked slightly shocked at my outburst but she and I both knew we didn't have time to argue. She glanced down at the stake gripped firmly in my hand and nodded. 'Very well, be careful, both of you.'

Dimitri slowed down once we were outside again; we were both on full alert. 'I know you're needed here Dimitri, I'll be fine, I promise. I love you.'

He was at war with himself, but he and I both knew that protecting the Academy came first, and so I made the decision for him. He nodded and took my hand in his for just a moment. 'Please be careful, I can't lose you, Roza. I love you too much.' I nodded and smiled at him once more before running off towards the Moroi dorms.

After very briefly checking the bond while I ran, I knew Lissa was in one of the lounged, huddled in the middle of the room with the rest of the Moroi. There were several Guardians surrounding them, as well as Novices.

As I approached the dorms, I saw a lot of Strigoi approaching too. I took one out as my stake pierced her heart before she even realised I was there.

The others were slightly harder to bring down, now I'd lost the element of surprise. But I worked together with a few other Guardians and we eventually cleared the area. As soon as we were clear I ran into the Moroi dorm building and straight into the lounge the Moroi were hiding in.

I was almost taken out by a stake as I charged in, guess I caught them off Guard. A familiar Guardian, Jones, I believe his name was, approached me then. 'What's going on out there, Hathaway?' I took a deep breath before explaining the situation as quickly as I could. He told me that all the Moroi students were accounted for, which was a relief.

I spotted Eddie in the group of Novices, who were standing guard, I was glad he was out of the fray. I also gave Lissa and Christian a withering look. I'm glad they were well guarded. Adrian was there too, they all looked equally worried. I gave them each a small smile before leaving once more; I knew I'd be of more assistance outside.

It looked like the Guardians had the upper hand, Strigoi corpses littered the floor. But there were still some standing, meaning I couldn't relax just yet.

I saw a Strigoi on top of a Guardian who was lying on the floor, I didn't even think before I charged towards the pair and thrust my stake into its back with as much force as I could, reaching the heart from the back. The Guardians neck was practically gushing with blood. I ripped the sleeve of my jumper off and tied it around the Guardians neck, trying to stop the bleeding, they were barely conscious.

Before I knew it I was pulled away and thrown to the floor. My hands were absolutely covered in blood, but I held my stake as tightly as possible.

The Strigoi went for my neck, faster than I thought possible. There was nothing pleasurable, no rush as the venom flowed through my bloodstream. The Strigoi just tore its teeth through the top layer of my skin. The one good thing about this situation was that it had completely forgotten about my hands. I took the chance and stabbed my stake right through its neck. It wouldn't kill him but it gave me the chance to shove its undead body off me, then after yanking the stake out of its neck, I slammed my stake through his chest and into the heart.

I couldn't see any more Strigoi in the area and so I took off in the direction of where I last saw Dimitri, outside the Guardians building.

My eyes found him immediately, he was fighting one of the last few Strigoi, but something was wrong, he didn't have his stake in his hand.

I didn't hesitate, I ran towards him and the bastard he was fighting. 'Hey you blood-sucking son of a bitch.' The Strigoi turned to face me with a snarl on its face, that got his attention. Dimitri took the opportunity to kick the back of its legs so she fell to her knees. I grabbed a fistful of her matted hair and shoved my stake through her heart.

I stared at Dimitri and he stared right back. By the collective sigh of relief around us, I assumed she was the last Strigoi to be taken down.

Dimitri's eyes scanned my body, looking for injuries, as I did the same to him. He had a few scratches but nothing life threatening. He clearly didn't think the same about me. He rushed to my side in a heartbeat and placed his hand on my neck. I flinched at the contact. I had forgotten all about it with the battle rage.

I checked the bond once more, Lissa was fine, and she was exactly where I left her.

Dimitri wrapped his arms around me and I threw myself at him, revelling in the warmth and safety of his embrace. I didn't care who saw.

The sun soon rose and with it brought the relief that we were safe from the Strigoi for at least another day. The Strigoi corpses burnt in the sun, but some bodies remained. The bodies of the Guardians who died protecting the Academy and its students. Although there were only a handful, it was still too many.

Dimitri ran me straight to the Infirmary; I was too tired to protest. I wasn't the only one there of course; the place was full of Guardians with a range of injuries.

I insisted that I didn't take up a bed or a room; instead I sat on the edge of a desk as a nurse bandaged up my neck and a few of my other more serious scrapes. Dimitri stayed with me for the whole thing; he never took his eyes off me.

We passed a few beds holding injured Guardians as we headed towards the exit. A hand shot out towards me and gently but firmly took hold of my wrist. I glanced down at the person in the bed and saw a Guardian who had their neck completely bandaged, more so than my own. I recognised him as the Guardian from earlier; I had killed the Strigoi who was feeding from him.

I walked over to the edge of their bed so they could see me without moving their neck too much, he released my wrist, Dimitri was close behind me. 'Hathaway, isn't it?' He asked, to which I nodded, telling him my first name as well.

'It's not all clear yet, but I know you're the one that saved me, I would be dead if it weren't for you. Thank you.' His voice was raspy, and it sounded like every word was a struggle.

'There's no need to thank me, I did what any other Guardian would have done.' He gave me a somewhat sad smile and nodded, I took that as my cue to leave.

As soon as we were out of the infirmary, Dimitri's lips pressed against my temple. 'You are incredible, Roza.' I smiled up at him and was about to step closer when I heard my name being shrieked.

'Rose!' I turned to see Lissa sprinting towards me, Christian and Adrian not far behind her. She threw herself at me, almost knocking me over in the process. 'I'm so glad you're ok, Rose. I was so worried, I saw you and then you left, I'm so glad you're ok.' I hugged her tightly and comforted her as best as I could. When she finally released me from her grip, Christian and Adrian both hugged me, much to my surprise, and Christian even quietly thanked me, for what, I do not know.

It was revealed that 9 Guardians were killed during the attack. But that number would apparently have been much higher if it weren't for my advanced warning, according to Alberta. And although many people were injured, no people were taken by the Strigoi, which was a small victory.

And hopefully the events would serve as a warning to the rest of the Strigoi out there that we would not be taken down easily.

 **There we have Chapter 27, how on earth have I made it this far?! I'm sorry this Chapter is a bit random; the idea literally came to my head as I started writing the chapter, and so I was just rolling with it. I didn't want it to be exactly the same as the Shadow Kiss battle, and so I made the ending a little different, I'm hoping to write the trial in my own way, as well as their graduation, so the timeframe might jump a bit in the next few chapters, I hope that's ok! I really hope you enjoyed this chapter, I'm sorry if it's not what you wanted or was too random, also sorry for any mistakes I may have made, I did proof read it, but it's very late at night, but please let me know! Thanks so much for all your incredible reviews, and for favouriting and following the story. Thanks again for reading, I hope you enjoyed it.**


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